FateStay Night: Ultimate Master
by Ten-Faced Paladin
Summary: For centuries the Holy Grail War has operated in secret with no outside interferance, using the spirits of ancient heroes as Servants. Now a new definition of the word Hero enters the Grail War and will bring great change to everything. No Slash.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Ben 10 or Fate/Stay Night. Those both belong to their respective creators and not me. I'm only writing this because the idea wouldn't leave my head and posting it because I think my readers would enjoy it. So, to everyone who is reading this, enjoy!

Fate/Stay Night: Ultimate Master

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Night 1: Arrival and Avenger

**(Oo/0\oO)**

The airport was busy and somewhat crowded as airline commuters went to and from all of the main entrances. The day was pleasant enough, but for all of the natural lighting the windows provided in the airport, it certainly didn't make waiting in line any easier. Some people were made particularly grouchy about the fact it was such a nice day outside and they were trapped in bureaucracy. Case in point and one of the main players in the game to come was a young western boy of sixteen who wore a green jacket, jeans, and had brown hair. He also had a satchel hung over his shoulder and a suitcase in his hand.

"Sometimes I hate my job," the boy sighed to himself, eyeing the surroundings.

His name was Ben Tennyson and he was in fact from an American city called Bellwood.

Ben used to be your average boy, but during a road trip with his grandfather when he was ten, he managed to gain access to a powerful alien machine known as the Omnitrix. With it, he was able to transform himself into ten different aliens before transforming into more as time went on. Being a ten year old, he used the Omnitrix for a number personal quests for fun and amusement, but he also used it to help a lot of people in need. As he grew up, Ben was forced to don the Omnitrix yet again at the age of fifteen to combat an alien race known as the Highbreed. A year ago, in a climactic battle against the warlord Vilgax caused Ben to lose the Omnitrix and eventually destroyed it. In its place, he managed to acquire the newest model known as the Ultimatrix. It was similar to the Omnitrix in that it transformed Ben into different aliens, but it had the added function of jumpstarting those aliens into evolved forms Ben dubbed as Ultimate Forms.

Recently though, Ben was allowed to take further part in intergalactic missions with the organization known as the Plumbers, officers who were charged with keeping the peace among the alien citizens of Earth and other planets. Unfortunately, a rather big fan of Ben's managed to discover his identity and in a fit of 'it-was-a-good-idea-at-the-time' revealed his name and face to the world. Ben became an instant celebrity, looked up to by numerous kids and teenagers, but mistrusted for his abilities by several adults, lead by reporter Will Harangue who seemed to make it his personal mission to send Ben down in flames and paint him as a menace to the people of America. Well, do that while making a quick buck on his book deals at the same time.

Ben's recent international flight was a result of his latest assignment from the Plumbers. He was sent out to Fuyuki City, Japan in order to investigate strange occurrences that seemed to be happening. Ten years ago, Fuyuki City was the source of a disturbingly large number of 'gas leaks' and 'accidents' that left many people dead, comatose, or injured with no idea as to just what the heck happened. The incidents were also coupled with large amounts of property damage in certain areas and strange energy readings which seemed to grow stronger and stronger until it peaked and Fuyuki City went up in flames. It was called the Great Fuyuki City Fire and it had a staggering amount of lost life in it, one of the highest records in the history of natural disasters. In recent days, the energy spikes were beginning to return and so the Plumbers decided to send in Ben so he could investigate. Since Ben was still being hounded by reporters and rabid fans, he was elected to be sent for the job since Japan was far enough away that no one may have heard of him. Well, that and he was one of their best junior agents next to Gwen and Kevin.

Speaking of the other members of Ben's team, they were ordered to stay in Bellwood until such a time that Ben needed backup or some other kind of emergency. Ben couldn't even be transported with the Rustbucket II, thus the reason why he was on a regular commercial flight rather than the incredibly fast space ship.

"I'll never complain about Kevin's speeding again," Ben muttered to himself as he finally got to the desk for arriving flyers.

Thanks to the latest in Plumber translation technology, Ben was able to understand what the clerk was saying to him. That in turn allowed Ben to be able to speak Japanese like a native, which surprised the clerk, but he didn't really comment on it. After getting his passport stamped and approved, Ben was finally free of the airport and allowed to enter Fuyuki City proper.

Fuyuki City itself was constructed a little oddly in Ben's eyes. The city itself was split in two by a river called the Miongawa which ran right through it. The two halves of the city were known as Shinto, which housed the urban side of the city while the other half was called Miyama, which had dibs on the suburban sections of the city. Miyama was then split into two further halves with the southern end holding more western-style homes while the northern section had more traditional Japanese homes. It was oddly organized for a city to Ben who had come from Bellwood where urban and suburban were spread out across the borders depending on who wanted what.

Stepping out into the sunlight, Ben shielded his eyes for a moment. He had half-feared that he was going to be mobbed by crazed fans like he had been on numerous occasions back in Bellwood. When no screams of adoration or calls from pushy reporters came, he felt a deep sigh of relief. It seemed that he would get the anonymity that he so craved these days, which was itself ironic since in his younger days he would have given almost anything to be a famous hero.

Hailing down a cab and telling the driver where he wanted to go, Ben sat back and slipped a file out of his bag so he could get a start on just what was going on. Inside of the file were a number of papers including readings about the incidents leading up to the Great Fuyuki Fire. A number of people who managed to survive ended up telling tales of people who were battling each other on an inhuman degree, using swords, shields, and even magic of all things. Most people wrote it off as hallucinations brought on by the 'gas leaks' and what effects they had on the minds of the people who inhaled it before it went up. What few officers that took it seriously were, managed to get descriptions of some of the people involved. Plumber technology which was only put to use recently because of events repeating managed to get high probability names to be connected to those names.

'_Emiya Kiritsugu, Kotomine Kiriei, Tohsaka Tokiomi, Uryuu Ryuunosuke, Waver Velvet, Matou Kariya, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi_' Ben read over the names. They were the most probable names to go with the faces that seemed to come up most during the incidents that the police recorded and that the Plumbers managed to look into. However, there was some margin of error so it may all be wrong. Still, if he was going to talk to some of the people on the list, it was going to be tough. '_Emiya's dead thanks to a heart condition. According to data, Kotomine is the priest of the local Catholic Church so he'd be a good lead. Tohsaka's likewise dead, although he was murdered but any evidence was destroyed in the Great Fuyuki Fire. Uryuu's dead too, although evidence seemed to reveal he was a serial killer. Waver is out in England under a different name now and attempts to reach him haven't met with success. Matou died from failing health too. Lastly is that El-Melloi guy and he was shot and beheaded some time before the fire. Man, most of the people who would know what the deal was are dead! What the heck happened here?_'

Of course, that list was only of the people who actually could be identified. Each of the people on the list was accompanied by someone who did the actual fighting while the others were supposedly nearby. Emiya was reportedly in the company of a blonde girl who wore blue and had silver armour on of all things. Tohsaka was said to be friends with a red-eyed man in gold armour who managed to cause his own share of damage before the fire. Uryuu was with a man in black robes and the strangest eyes one would ever see and Waver was accompanied by a red-haired man who was dressed like a Greek warrior. Matou was seen in the company of a man wearing black armour while El-Melloi was sometimes seen with a man in a black outfit who was carrying a spear. Again, no one took the reports seriously beyond checking to see if there was any evidence of such but with the fire, any possible evidence that could reveal the truth was destroyed and most people wrote it off as hallucinations anyway.

"We're here kid," the driver spoke up, snapping Ben out of his introspection. Looking out, he saw that he was at the hotel which the Plumbers had set up for him. It was a pretty neat place and normally someone of Ben's allowance would never have gotten in on a reservation. Luckily Ben was being paid as a Plumber and that reservations had been made by people who knew what they were doing when they assigned him this mission. It paid to have connections.

After a speedy registration, Ben caught an elevator up to one of the top floors before finding his room. Well…room was a bit of a general term. What he actually got was a very nice suite. It was tastefully decorated in a modern fashion and actually had three different rooms in it, perfect in case Ben needed to call Gwen and Kevin for reinforcements.

"Holy cow!" Ben gasped. "I don't even want to know what strings Grandpa pulled to get me this place." Quickly claiming a room, Ben came back out to inspect the rest of his temporary residence and that quickly became a tour of the kitchen. It was already stocked with foods and of all things a blender. Ben's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the machine. Now he could make smoothies of any kind anytime he wanted! If it weren't for his assignment, he'd be sure that he was on vacation!

Ben was sorely tempted to go ahead and get a smorgasbord of smoothies ready for his enjoyment, but he managed to fight the urge. He was there to investigate weird events happening in Fuyuki, not gulping down smoothies until he would explode. Tearing himself away from the gorgeous sight of all of the potential smoothies, he returned to his room where his travel bags were kept before digging through his carry bag for what files he brought with him. Taking hold of them, he brought them back out. Bringing them to the living room, he spread them out so to get a look.

All of the files were a collection of information on the seven people who were implicated in weird events leading up to the fire. Some of it seemed complete enough for some, but others were sorely lacking. Emiya seemed like a simple enough guy. He married into a family of German aristocrats known as the Von Einzberns. It was a family which had a long lineage which seemed a little odd to allow a foreigner marry into them, but that was the stereotype since people could marry whoever they wanted. After the fire from ten years ago, he split off from his wife Irisviel (who apparently died in the fire or events leading up to it) and remained in Japan, not bothering to return to his in-laws. He died several years later.

Kayneth and Waver both came from England and had journeyed from their home country to Fuyuki for an unclear reason. Information on both of them was sparse at best. Kayneth was reported to be descendant of some minor noble family reportedly. Waver was a supposed child prodigy who was just as enigmatic as Kayneth and had even less on him, being a teenager at the time. The Plumbers were still looking into it, but for all intents and purposes the two were ghosts. Even Kayneth's body pulled a vanishing act after it was shipped back to England for burial and the only family member they knew of was his fiancée, although her body was found nearby with gunshots being the cause of death and her arm missing. Waver returned to England after the fire, but then practically vanished as well.

Uryuu was pretty much an open and shut case. The man was a total psychopath who was tied into several murders with his most heinous starting with a family he slaughtered by himself before several orphans in the city likewise went missing before being found dead in gruesome ways. When he was finally found, he had a bullet wound in his head. What was proposed was that he either killed himself out of his insanity for some reason or another, or someone took the law into their own hands and took him out.

Tohsaka, Matou, and Kotomine were all from Fuyuki and both Tohsaka and Matou both had long histories tied into the city. Tohsaka had been murdered, leaving behind a daughter and a wife who was brain damaged in a wheel chair and disoriented for reasons unknown. The case was still unsolved. Matou was part of a reasonably influential family headed by an old man named Zouken who had less than a shining reputation according to the rumourmongers in the city. A note from some of the Plumber investigators commented that Matou Kariya didn't have any signs of disease or failing health until the events leading up to the fire, in which he simply dropped dead in his family's home, in front of Zouken's adopted granddaughter of all people. Finally was Kotomine who was the son of the former priest of the church before he himself became one. The man himself seemed pretty average more than anything else and why he was possibly involved was a mystery in of itself. Still, he was the only one available to question about incidents who was alive and able to be contacted.

Ben rubbed his eyes to try and get the information sorted out in his head. Things were pretty vague about what the heck these seven people were doing, never mind the strangely-dressed people that were hanging out with them during the weird incidents. Several of the seven had relatives who were either in Fuyuki or some other country. Tohsaka had a daughter which was going to the local high school. Emiya had a biological daughter with Irisviel named Illyasviel in Germany along with a foster son named Shirou who lived in Fuyuki. Kariya had a nephew named Shinji and an adopted niece named Sakura, both of which went to the local high school like the other local teens.

'_It's likely why they sent me,_' Ben commented in his thoughts. Since most of the only leads were teenagers, then it would make sense to send a teenager to talk to them. Gwen might have been a good choice, but she wasn't as adaptive in fighting as Ben was and as many skills as Kevin was in many things, making friends really wasn't one of them. If Ben's fame did leak through to Japan, teenagers might actually be more willing to talk to him.

Looking out of the window, Ben saw that the sun was going down. The majority of the incidents both ten years ago and recently were occurring at night, meaning that whatever was responsible wanted to keep hidden for the time being. Of course, that meant he would have to do patrols at night to see if he could see anything suspicious. Fortunately the night sky would allow the likes of Jetray and Big Chill to avoid detection in the sky, even if Jetray was bright red.

Steeling himself, Ben travelled to the ground floor once again. He could have transformed on top of the building or just transformed in his room and leaped out of the window, but that wouldn't have been the best of ideas. On the off chance someone did see him flying around in the city, they would possibly try to follow him to wherever he called home. In a city where an unknown number of enemies may or may not be waiting for him, that would end up being a pretty bad thing. Exiting through the front doors, Ben stuck his hands in his pockets and began to travel down the streets, keeping an eye on his surroundings. All he needed was one private place to change and he could transform.

Spotting one such spot, Ben did a quick check to see if he was being followed before ducking into said alley. It was the basic alleyway so it had plenty of shade for him to use. Heading in deeper, Ben kept an eye on either end before he pulled his hands out of his pocket and began to reach for the Ultimatrix…

And then the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise.

It was a honed survival instinct that Ben had discovered was rather accurate during his many battles against the various forces of evil. No matter what form he was in or where he was, when that feeling hit him he knew that something bad was going to happen and it was going to happen fast! Obeying these instincts, Ben leaped forward, not even considering how he may look silly to any witnesses if he was wrong. He'd take a little humiliation over being killed in some painful way any day.

CLANG!

The sound of steel hitting asphalt was enough to let Ben know his instincts were right. Ducking into a roll, Ben turned to see who had attacked him. What he met was the image of a man dressed in blue with silver accents and shoulders. Despite being thin, his frame spoke of power and strength. His hair was blue and placed in a ponytail which went down his back. In his hands was a blood red spear which had its tip planted on the concrete where Ben had been standing a moment ago, the weapon actually breaking the stone surface. His eyes were actually red and a smirk was on his lips. What worried Ben more than the weird feeling he got from the spear though was the look in the man's eyes. It reminded him a little of the look Overlord wore, someone who got off on the battle for the sake of battle rather than belief in what they were fighting for.

"Not bad reflexes kid," the man smirked as he stood up and pulled his weapon out of the hole it made. "Not many can dodge me when they don't know I'm coming. Then again, I could tell you were something else when I sensed you out."

"Who the heck are you?" Ben asked with a frown, preparing to use the Ultimatrix in a flash. It didn't take a genius to know that he was going to need it.

"I could tell you my name, but you can just call me Lancer," the blue maniac grinned as he prepared his spear for another lunge.

Ben didn't waste any time waiting for the spear wielding lunatic to try and get him a second time. Quickly reaching for the Ultimatrix, he activated it and brought out the face of the machine before a hologram rose above the circular face of the machine. The hologram looked like a bulky suit of armour mixed with an old style stove. Ben didn't even need a second before he slammed the watch face down with a cry of, "Going hero!"

As Ben pressed the face of the Ultimatrix down, his entire world was bathed in green light. Within it, Ben's entire body lost substance, transforming into pure energy and becoming bright orange in the process. However, the change didn't stop there. The Ultimatrix disassembled with the face attaching itself to Ben's chest. The remaining pieces connected to the green hourglass symbol before beginning to transform into large pieces of cobalt coloured armour. Ben's torso was covered in a bulky round set with the Ultimatrix face centre on top of a raised circular section which connected to his back through a pair of tubes. His arms were covered in the same bulky armour with round shoulders and spiked manacles. His legs were covered similar pieces of armour with bulky feet. Finally his head was covered in a simple cylindrical helmet which had a grille not unlike a stove. The change was complete in less than a second, but Ben was already raring to go as the light died down revealing him as…

"**NRG!**" the new form of Ben Tennyson called out, his voice holding an accent similar to Russians, were they inside a hollow suit of armour.

"What the-?" Lancer gaped, honestly stunned into motionlessness at what he was looking at.

NRG didn't wait for Lancer to regain his full mental facilities. Rather, he simply charged at the blue-clad spearman, reading to pound him hard and hopefully take him out in one hit before letting the Plumbers figure out what was going on. The guy looked human enough, but NRG learned from experience that just because something looked normal didn't necessarily mean that it was. His grandparents were pretty good examples of that in themselves.

Lancer though, was obviously a veteran of combat and as such recovered quickly. Snapping back to attention, He leaped over the charging mass of steel and heat before twisting into the air and stabbing at NRG's back with his weapon. The tip of the spear glanced off of NRG's back like a rubber ball off of a wall. That wasn't entirely unexpected, but the fact that the armour didn't even show a scratch or even a dent from the impact from the weapon in question made Lancer's eyes widen. Just what was this guy's armour made of? His Noble Phantasm may have been at its strongest when he invoked its name, but even without its full power it was still a pretty damn powerful spear! It could cut through all sorts of things before being stopped. If it couldn't even dent this guy's armour…

Lancer began to grin at the thought. He was dealing with someone pretty damn tough. That was just great. He wanted a challenge before the War got started. It seemed like he got it.

Landing on the ground several feet back, Lancer grinned at NRG as the pseudo-Prypiatosian-B turned around to face him. "You seem to got some muscles in those arms and that armour's damn thick. Still, you're going to have to be quicker than that if you wanna beat me!"

"Bring it on," NRG replied before charging again.

NRG approached Lancer and swung at him wildly with his armoured fists. Lancer proved to be incredibly nimble as he swerved around the attacks, letting NRG's fists crash against the walls of the alley or the ground, making craters. Each miss just made Lancer smirk more as he saw the damage. Between each volley of punches, the blue-clad psycho would stab and swing at him, letting the blade of his weapon bounce off of his suit. Of course, the strikes would leave little, if any damage, but Lancer was aiming at joints and what he hoped to be soft points. He speed certainly allowed him such opportunities compared to how NRG was so slow. After attempting a swipe at his legs in such a fashion, Lancer leaped to the back of the alley to get himself some space.

"Man, this is getting to be entertaining!" the blue-haired man grinned. "You're trussed up tighter than any other knight I've ever seen. Hats off to whoever built that suit. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a Servant or something." The comment made NRG's energy-composed eyebrow quirk, but he let Lancer continue. "Still, I think I've got your measure. All brawn and up close. You've got nothing in terms of range so if you don't mind, I'll take your mana now." Lancer reared back to throw his spear, confident that his natural speed and agility would allow him to pierce the one opening in NRG's armour and get the guy inside.

"Is that so?" NRG asked rhetorically. Immediately, the light behind his visor grille lit up before a beam of power burned through the air and seared towards Lancer. The spearman's eyes widened before he ducked out of the way, allowing the beam to continue on and collide against the side of a building at the end of the alley. Rather than the bricks blowing up like one would expect, they actually melted from the beam which NRG had fired. Seeing he missed, the armoured alien cut the flow of power in favour of eyeing Lancer again.

"Son of a-!" Lancer grunted as he eyed the end of his ponytail, watching it smoke with blackened edges. Turning to NRG, his eyes narrowed. He no longer saw this as just a simple tussle that he was eventually going to win. Now he was facing someone who was strong up close, but also had a damn good long-range attack too. He saw an actual fighter and an enemy that taking on with kids gloves amounted to suicide. "That's it! No more playing around!" Grabbing his weapon, he got in a kneeling position before he reared back his spear underneath his arm like a thrust, aiming the point at NRG again.

"Oh come on," NRG chuckled. "It didn't work the last fifty times so why should it-"

"_GAE BOLG!_"

NRG's reply was cut off as Lancer's weapon turned into red light before it seemed to just leap from his hand as he thrust the spear at him. The weapon streaked like lightning towards him with deadly intent. The armoured alien reacted quickly and fired a beam of his intense radioactive energy with the intent of melting the weapon out of the air. To his supreme shock though, the weapon actually darted out of the way from the beam and kept right on flying, even circling around the attack. NRG didn't even have any time to make a defence before the spear slammed into his chest directly over where his heart would be in his human form. The force of the blow actually took the psuedo-Prypiatosian-B off his feet before he flew out of the alley and crashed into a parked car, caving in the side. Thankfully, no one was inside of the car at the time. NRG could only groan slightly from the ringing in his non-existent ears. That had hurt! Looking down to the point of impact, his eyes widened to see the spear sticking out of his armour with a few good centimetres of the blade sticking into the steel.

"Holy crap," NRG gasped.

"What the hell? You weren't supposed to survive that! Gae Bolg always kills!" Lancer cried out, coming to the edge of the alley to gape at NRG's still living form. "Saber managing to survive I can understand…but you? Your armour must be a Noble Phantasm of some kind! Nothing else can stop Gae Bolg!"

"Cute. You named your spear," NRG grunted as he yanked said spear out of his armour. Tossing the red weapon aside and standing up, he eyed Lancer dangerously. "Now you're going to come with me an answer a few questions buddy. If you cooperate, I'll make sure you only get off with a light tan." He accentuated the threat by heating up his gauntlets, making them turn red from the temperature increase.

"Damn!" the Lancer growled. Still, he wasn't going to try to stop a fight as entertaining as this one. Another flurry of movement which NRG could barely catch and the Gae Bolg was back in the hands of its wielder, but Lancer didn't look as confident as he did before. His ace in the hole flunked and he wasn't sure if his usual tricks were going to be enough. There had to be some weakness that this walking toaster oven had hidden away. It just had to!

"Don't say I didn't warn you," NRG frowned as he began to advance. As he stepped closer towards Lancer though, the emblem on his chest began to blink red, making a deep beeping noise. Lancer blinked at the sight, but NRG on the other hand seemed to be finally beginning to lose his cool. "What? No! Not now!"

NRG was then suddenly enveloped in a flash of light, making Lancer shield his eyes for a moment. As the light died down, Lancer found that NRG was gone, and that Ben Tennyson was back in his normal form. At first Lancer wasn't sure if he was seeing things right, but then decided that he didn't care. The kid was out of the armour and that meant he was ripe for the kill once again. "Looks like you're out of juice there kid," the spear wielder grinned as he began to advance. Whatever that armour trick was, it didn't drain mana so Lancer was in for a decent snack. Hell, the kid was pretty much glowing with the stuff.

'_Wait…glowing?_'

Yes, the boy in green was glowing with a green aura which was visible to anyone who would have been looking. The boy didn't seem to notice it at first, his eyes being more trained on the spear Lancer wielded rather than himself. However, at Lancer's growing confusion, he began to notice for himself that something odd was going on.

"What the-?"

Those were the only words that Ben could get out as he noticed that he was glowing with bright green energy. Any further questions that he may have had about his current situation were drowned out when in a sudden blast of green power; a large circle etched itself into the ground, glowing as brightly as the aura surrounding Ben was. The circle itself was large, and had five smaller circles inside of it at the pentagonal points. Each of the circles had some kind of marking inside of them which depicted fire, water, earth, air, and lightning with the centre holding a rune which looked a little like a portal. It really was a piece of artwork but Ben was too busy shielding his eyes while Lancer was too busy freaking out.

"Oh no! OH HELL NO!" he snapped. "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! THE SEVEN HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUMMONED!"

Ben would have asked what the heck Lancer was talking about when the centre of the artistic circle flashed brightly, blinding both witnesses and forcing them to cover their eyes so to save their eyesight. The illumination only flared for a moment before it died down. When the light did vanish, it took the seal with it but it had also left behind something, or rather someone.

This someone was in fact, female. She sported golden blonde hair which seemed to be slightly curly on top of her head while the rest was pulled back into a ruffled ponytail which ran down her back. Her eyes were a sapphire blue and against her pale skin, they seemed like actual gemstones. From head to toe, she was covered in ornate silver armour that despite it likely being made for a man, it had been tailored to fit her and it certainly made her figure noticeable. She was thin and trim like an athlete, but held the beauty and grace of a model. Her armour covered her torso, arms, and legs, all of it decorated with images of ivy along the chest and the sides of her arms and legs. What the armour did not cover was defended by chainmail which was just as polished as the rest of her armour. On her hip was a silver sword which had images of more ivy wrapped around the hilt and was resting in a white sheathe that was decorated with silver which made the image of a cross, if one included the hilt of the blade itself. On her opposite side and under her arm was a silver helmet which had a visor that would protect the eyes and had several long horizontal slits to see through while topped off with a long white feather trailing from the top like a ponytail. Despite the armour, the rather ornate but intimidating sword, and the eyes which revealed much experience in the ways of war, this woman looked like an angel.

An angel that was kneeling at Ben's feet, looking up at him expectantly.

"I ask of you, are you my Master?" the armoured woman asked in a pleasing, but somewhat hardened voice.

"Wha…what...huh?" These were the only words Ben could really get out. This was easily one of the strangest things that had happened to him and that was saying something. Usually the weird things ended up trying to attack him, not asking if they were his master of some kind. Well, not since he killed The Great One back when he was ten.

"I am Servant Avenger, heeding your summons," the woman spoke softly, an air of tranquility surrounding her causing even the battle-crazy Lancer to pause as events played out. "The Command Mantra you possess signifies you as a Master. My Master. As such, my sword and my skills are at your command."

Saying her piece, the woman stood up and turned to face Lancer. Eyeing him with her crystal orbs, she placed her helmet upon her head and suddenly she seemed no longer like an angel, but a warrior ready to do battle with any foe who stood in her way. She then drew her sword, revealing Latin words written across the flat of the blade. The noise of steel sliding against steel broke the tranquility and snapped Lancer out of his stupor. The blue-clad warrior smirked and took a stance as the silver knight stood across from him.

"I don't know what the hell's going on, but there's no way I'll turn down a fight like this!" he grinned as he prepared to strike.

The silver knight remained unresponsive to Lancer's words, concentrating solely on his actions as compared to her own. Things were still for only a moment between the pair before Lancer lost patience and immediately charged, aiming to pierce Avenger through her torso. Avenger was a flurry of movement, her armour glinting off of what light there was in the alley as she parried the blow before turning to slash at Lancer's body. Still, the blue warrior proved fast and experienced as he brought the end of his weapon up to block the blow from the silver sword. The impact brought sparks, but neither weapon was damaged. Needing space, Lancer immediately leaped up, travelling an inhuman height. However, Avenger wasn't far behind as she leaped up to continue the battle, the pair leaping off building sides and rooftops to clash with each other in the air.

Down below, Ben wasn't idle as he watched the battle going on, being very used to such sight. Instead, he was fiddling with the Ultimatrix, trying to get it to work again as he hoped that it would recharge soon, "Come on, come on!" he muttered, fiddling with the face. After a few moments of fiddling with the alien device, the face turned from red to green, indicating that the machine was ready to use once again. "All right!" Activating the face, he brought up the image of what appeared to be a moth man with large wings. "Let's see if you're hot enough for Big Chill!" Ben commented as he slapped down on the face.

Another green flash erupted and Ben quickly began to transform. His entire body bulked up with an inhuman amount of muscles, giving him several feet in height to accommodate it all. Further changes continued as a new pair of arms grew from his torso, just as muscular as his first pair had become. His skin turned deep red while his skull reconfigured to allow a second pair of eyes and his hair turned black before being pulled into a ponytail at the back. The Ultimatrix reconfigured the molecular composition of his clothes, becoming a gold bandolier across his chest with the Ultimatrix with matching gold bands on all four of his wrists and both ankles. Lastly was his pants turning into a pair of briefs like Superman would wear, only black with a gold belt leaving his muscled legs free motion in case of anything happening. Slamming his fists together, the new alien cried out his name.

"**Fourarms!**" the pseudo-Tetramand bellowed…and then blinked as he got a look at himself. "Man, of all the times to start being smart with me," sighing, he looked up to see Avenger and Lancer moving their battle to one of the rooftops rather than simply clashing in the air as they leaped at one another. "Oh well, might as well make the most of it."

Eyeing the rooftop where Avenger and Lancer were fighting, Fourarms charged down the street before taking a giant leap. His legs easily propelled him through the air before he caught the window ledge on the side of the building in which Lancer and Archer were fighting on top of. Despite his weight and gravity pushing down on him, Fourarms propelled himself up by two arms, gripping another window ledge and pulling himself up even further. Another leap got him to the edge of the rooftop before he pulled himself over, spotting the two warriors in a heartbeat. Lancer had his back to him with his weapon pinned against Avenger's both warriors attempting to overpower one another for dominance.

Fourarms didn't need more of an invitation than that. Getting to his feet, he charged at Lancer's exposed back before leaping the rest of the distance, aiming to let gravity, his muscles, and his weight take down Lancer in one fell swoop. "Hey blue boy! Forget about me?"

Lancer turned his head only a fraction so he could see who was yelling at him while keeping Avenger in his sights at the same time. Seeing Fourarms coming down at him made the spear wielder quickly forget about his silver-clad opponent and instead leaped to the sidelines at a speed that would have Olympic athletes struggling to match. Fourarms came down hard, shattering the surface of the roof and making shards of concrete fly in many directions. Avenger had the natural reflexes to likewise back away when she saw Fourarms approaching so she managed to avoid being accidentally struck.

"Dammit!" Lancer cursed as he got to his feet. Now he was squaring off against Avenger and the four-armed freak. Even freakier than though was the fact that Lancer could detect the mana signature of that kid with the green jacket he tried to off, kick-starting this whole fight. The two on one odds didn't really bother him, since that just meant more fun in his mind. What did bother him was the unknown element brought in by the supposed Servant Avenger and the shape-shifting kid who was her Master. The brat had already been some kind of heavily armoured thing and now he was muscle bound with four arms. Gods above only knew what else he might be able to turn into.

Lancer wasn't the only one surprised by Fourarm's appearance. Avenger was very much stunned at the sight of the Tetramand standing next to her. Were it not for the fact that the mana which was being supplied to her came from the strange beast, she would have thought some kind of mutated familiar or infernal minion was assisting her in battle. As it were, she recognized the creature as her Master. It was all she could do to not stop and gape in the middle of the battle when she discovered that little fact. Of all of the things she expected from a Master upon her summoning, THIS was surely not one of them.

"Not quite what I was expecting tonight, but I sure as hell ain't complaining," Lancer grinned as he twirled his spear and took a battle stance. Fourarms and Avenger both got ready for another assault, knowing just how good Lancer was with his weapon of choice not to mention having the speed to match said skill. Avenger was prepared for battle while Fourarms just wished that he was in a faster form so he could keep up with the lunatic. As it was, he was just going to have to deal with what he had. Gripping his fists, he prepared to go for another charge when…

"Eh?" Lancer suddenly dropped his stance as if someone was talking to him. "Hey! Wait a second! I'm in the middle of something here!"

Fourarms quirked his left eyes as he watched what essentially seemed like Lancer getting into an argument with himself, "Uh, who's he talking to?"

"Likely his Master," Avenger commented softly, her voice sounding deeper behind her helmet.

"So someone's pulling his strings then," Fourarms growled. "I hate when things get complicated like that."

"Of course I know my orders!" Lancer snapped at his unseen Master. Snarling, he turned to gaze in resignation at both Avenger and Fourarms. "It seems that things were just getting interesting. A shame my Master is a coward. Feel free to follow me though. It'll give me an excuse to finish this!" Eyeing the pair a final time, Lancer took off towards the edge of the rooftop before leaping straight off without hesitation. Avenger and Fourarms quickly dashed to the edge to see what became of the blue-clad killer, but quickly found him leaping and bounding away. He was already a fair distance away, likely using his full speed.

"Don't think even Jetray could catch up to him at this point," Fourarms frowned. "Crud."

Sighing, Fourarms reached to icon on his chest before a green flash was released, returning Ben Tennyson to his natural form. The sudden shape-shifting was almost as natural as breathing for Ben, having wielded both the Omnitrix and now the Ultimatrix for some time. His closest friends and family were likewise used to it, although his parents tried not to let it bother them too much knowing that their son had helped save the entire universe from destruction. As calm and accustomed as the people who knew Ben personally had become concerning his transformations, the people who only knew him by reputation or those who had just met him the transformations were…shocking.

"M-Master," Avenger spoke, the steel draining from her voice, but not entirely. "If it is not offensive of me to ask, but…what are you?"

Ben could tell that Avenger was clearly uncomfortable despite how tough she clearly was and quickly tried to reassure her, "Hey, I'm just a regular human. It's not like I'm a monster or anything. I just have something which can make me transform like that," Ben was hesitant to explain the Ultimatrix. Pretty much everyone knew he used it to transform into his alien forms, but no one knew the story of where it came from or who had built it. That was a closely guarded secret. "What about you though? Just how the heck did you get here? Why do you keep calling me Master?"

"It was you whom activated the summoning spell, was it not?" asked Avenger. Ben would have wagered that there was curiosity in her voice, but only in a rhetoric sense. Instead of waiting for any kind of reply, she pointed at Ben's right hand. "The Command Spells are engraved on your hand. They signify you as a Master. My Master to be specific."

"My hand?" Ben blinked, looking down at his right hand. To his shock, red lines were marked on the back of his hand, glowing in the night. As a whole, the markings looked like a shield which was split into three parts. A top section, a middle, and a bottom were all accounted for. By themselves, the markings just looked like a mix between runic and creative styles of tattoo artistry. "Woah…" Ben could feel that the markings were more than just ink doodles, but he still hoped just the same that he could get rid of them before he had to go back to Bellwood or else Gwen was really going to let him have it, never mind what his mom would do.

"Okay…but do they do anything else?" Ben knew, from experience, that things which seemed to appear out of nowhere had a tendency to do more than just sit where they've been put and look ominous.

"They are absolute orders," Avenger replied, her voice appearing a little reluctant on the subject, but it was hard to tell what she was feeling since she was still wearing her helmet. "Should you activate one while giving me an order, I will not be able to disobey it. However, using one causes it to vanish, so only three such orders are available."

Ben blinked at the notion of such casual slavery, but also began feeling like he had been dropped in the middle of the ocean and told to swim. It was a feeling he got when the Highbreed started making their appearance on Earth, likewise when his identity got blown and that mess with Aggregor got started. Sighing, she scratched his temple, "Okay, I think some more detailed explanations are going to be needed here. From the beginning. You seem to know what's going on, but I definitely don't."

"Very well Master," Avenger nodded, but her gaze seemed more focused on their surroundings. Well, it seemed to be since that helmet of hers made it hard to tell if she was looking at him or not. "Is there anyplace else we can speak privately? What I have to say is not meant for just anyone to hear and must be kept secret from the people at large."

"Well…," Ben rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at their surroundings. "Sure. But…how are we going to get back without anyone noticing you? Armour and swords don't exactly blend in these days."

"Easily done Master," Avenger nodded. She was still for only a moment but then quite suddenly she seemed to fade into a transparent version of herself.

"What the-?" Ben gaped.

"Please do not panic," Avenger spoke softly. "I have merely restricted the mana flow from you to me so that I take on an astral form. Only you can see me, no one else. I also have the ability to fly in this form so I may follow you anywhere or get to you very quickly."

"Uh…okay…" Ben blinked. Mana? He had mana? He remembered Gwen telling him that mana was the energy which she manipulated in order to use her abilities. Since she took more after their grandmother than he did, she had a pretty big reserve of the stuff. Ben on the other hand didn't think he had any, but maybe since he was related his grandmother, a being made of pure mana, he may have a touch of it after all. Well, enough to bring out Avenger anyway.

"Shall we go then Master?" asked Avenger.

"R-right," Ben nodded. Activating the Ultimatrix once again, he cycled through the numerous aliens which were available, many of them bringing curious looks from Avenger on each one. Finally, Ben settled on one of his most-used forms before slamming the face of the device down. The green flash typical with the transformation followed before Ben's frame grew taller, but much skinnier. His bones hollowed out for flight while thin bands of skin stretched out to connect his increasingly longer arms, similar to bat wings, but styled more like a stingray's. His head turned square-like with green eyes and a pair of red horns atop his bow as a long tail shifted out from behind. Black fringes not unlike gills etched themselves into his sides as the Ultimatrix symbol appeared in the centre of his chest. "**Jetray!**"

Avenger couldn't help but blink at the red creature which had been her master only a moment before, "Curious."

"Follow me," Jetray motioned before he took off into the air, gliding on the air currents. Avenger quickly followed, flying through the air as if she were nothing more than a ghost. The pair quickly cut through the air, but Jetray purposefully kept slow so Avenger could keep up. Soon enough, the pair landed atop the hotel that Ben was staying in. The door was sadly locked, but one nueroshock blast from Jetray's eyes destroyed the lock and rendered the door open. With that minor task taken care of, Jetray returned to the form of Ben Tennyson.

"This way," the green-clad boy gestured to the ghostly Avenger.

Ben and Avenger quietly travelled through the stairs before exiting into the hallways where Ben's room was located. The teenager was slightly concerned about someone spotting Avenger even if she claimed that no one would be able to see her. Things were rarely that good for Ben when he found himself in the middle of a new and strange situation. Knowing his luck, he'd bump into something or someone that was capable of seeing Avenger in her spiritual form and flip out.

With no incident, Avenger and Ben reached the young man's room. Avenger quickly entered and Ben shut the door behind her, taking care to lock it in case someone from room service decided to come inside, thinking he was gone or something. As the lock slid into place, Avenger returned to her solid form, removing her helmet and shaking her hair so to get it fanned out once again.

"Thank-you Master," she spoke, relief in her voice. "Usually it is the Master which employs that technique by cutting off their mana supply. If I do it, I begin to feel pressure within my body."

"Sure," Ben nodded as he headed towards the living room, "So, can I get an explanation as to just what the heck is going on?"

"Yes Master," Avenger nodded, slowly following. Ben sat down in a chair as Avenger took a spot in front of him. "As I stated before, I am Servant Avenger. I am to be your sword and shield for the duration of the Holy Grail War."

"Wait…Holy Grail?" Ben blinked. "You mean THE Holy Grail? The cup of Christ? The most sought after religious artefact of all time?"

"Sadly no," Avenger shook her head. "The term Holy Grail applies to a powerful artefact which appears in a cycle of fifty years or so. When it appears, the Grail War begins. It is a competition between seven Masters and their Servants. Whoever is the last one standing shall be the one to claim the Grail and receive a wish for anything they desire."

Ben blinked at the rather brief and succinct description, "Woah. So…when you say anything, does that mean…?"

"Anything," Avenger stated. "Anything that can be conceived by your mind can be granted to you for winning. You Master, were selected to take part in this competition."

"Wow," Ben blinked. The sheer importance of what was happening wasn't lost on him. Were he still ten, he might have been stoked to take part for a chance to win a wish at anything he wanted. Now that he was older and had a bit more world experience, Ben could guess that with a prize that powerful on the line, no one else who was competing would be pulling their punches. "Okay…so that guy Lancer. Was he a Servant too?"

"Yes," Avenger nodded. "Lancer is not his true name, while Avenger is not mine, but the name of our classes which we are designated. It is safer that we be referred as such."

"Right," Ben sighed, not quite understanding. "So why did Lancer attack me? Was he able to tell that I was going to be a Master or something?"

"Again, no," Avenger denied. "We Servants are dependant on mana to keep ourselves in this world. Should we run out, we will fade away and be officially eliminated from the War. If our Masters cannot supply it, we will be forced to drain it from other people by draining their souls."

"What?" Ben cried. That Lancer guy wanted to steal his soul? "Wait, what about you? Do you need to do that too?"

"Never!" Avenger snapped, clearly disgusted with the thought of doing such a thing. "I find the act disgusting and downright evil! I would rather vanish than take part in such a thing! Fortunately, the mana in which I receive from you is sufficient for my needs."

"That's good," Ben sighed in relief, letting his head hang. "Grandma said I didn't have the 'spark', but I guess there's something to be said for being related to an Anodite."

"What is an 'Anodite'?" Avenger asked, having overheard Ben's mutterings. "Is that another word for a Magus?"

'_Crap!_' Ben cursed mentally. While Avenger was no doubt in the loop about something big in which the general public couldn't know about, Ben didn't want to reveal more about aliens and the Ultimatrix than he had to. Thinking quickly, he decided to go along with Avenger's assumption, finding it to be a better cover than anything he could think up of on the fly. "Uh…something like that, yes. Grandma is able to use mana pretty much without limit and my cousin's pretty good with it too."

"Then if you come from a family of mages, should you not already know of this?" asked Avenger curiously.

"I don't think any of us have heard of something like this," Ben replied confidently.

"I see," Avenger nodded. "In that case, you should know that there is a moderator for the War. He can be found in the local Catholic Church. You will have to register as a combatant there if you wish to be recognized by the Grail. He can also answer any questions you may have about how the war works."

"Okay then," Ben nodded. At least he would be able to get some answers then. Still, Ben was feeling apprehensive about taking part in the Grail War. Granted, the prize was worth fighting for to his materialistic side, but there was more to consider than just that. There were also the other combatants to consider. Just how far were they willing to go to win this war? What kind of wish did they have? If they were anything like Lancer, then it was important that they didn't get their hands on the Grail. If someone who so callously sacrificed the lives of others to keep himself in the fight won, then it could mean something as bad as Ultimate Aggregor or Vilgax with the Omnitrix. That alone made Ben positive that by this point he had to compete.

Turning to view a nearby clock, Ben found that he while he was out; the time had passed for the city's official curfew to begin. One of the many security measures that the city officials had enacted in order to try and protect people from harm. Of course, if there were any more like Lancer running around then it wasn't going to matter if anyone was out in the streets or not. They were simply fuel for the creep and likely to be nothing more. Ben knew that Lancer, and thus his Master had to be stopped.

"It's late now and I doubt the local priest is going to be awake or at the church right now," Ben commented. "We'll have to see him in the morning. I don't want to agree to joining in just to spend time in lockup for breaking the curfew around here."

"Very well Master," Avenger nodded.

**Miyama-Kotomine Church**

Kotomine Kirei sat in his chair, looking over the notes for his next sermon. However, his mind was not on his work but was merely a distraction from his current predicament. He had seen through Lancer's eyes at the American boy who transformed into two different monsters and then summoned a Servant even though the seven have already been called forth. He knew very well what the Servant was. Avenger had only been seen once in the history of the Grail War and that was during the third. Since then, that Avenger's soul had been trapped in the Grail, tainting it with the dark wishes his people had when the poor soul was sacrificed for their beliefs. That made it a truly worthy prize to the priest. It was something he wanted to be born into the world so he could see just what would happen. He had his chance during the last war, but that meddler Emiya Kiritsugu destroyed it, preventing it's appearance for what was though to be fifty years but instead only for ten. When the new war started, Kiriei thought he lucked out, but now Avenger had appeared again.

Kiriei found himself in a quandary now. Avenger was unpredictable since there had only ever been one before and Kirei hadn't been there. He didn't know why the previous Avenger was trapped in the grail nor why he had been summoned. There was no record as to how he fought nor how strong he had been. Not even the Grail granted Kirei that knowledge. No, a true wild card had appeared along with a potentially powerful master. A priest Kriei may have been, but he wasn't a shut-in like the stereotype made priests out to be. No, Kirei knew about Ben Tennyson and the fame he collected over in America. Japan at large may not know of him, but the Catholic Church definitely kept an eye on him and his strange power to transform into creatures not seen before by anyone. Some in the Catholic Church opted to try and steal the device he used or recruit him in their quarrels with the mages, but that was vetoed since attempting to take it would turn him against their organization and simply spouting their rhetoric on mages would do the same. The boy was too liberal to be convinced by their archaic reasoning.

"You seem quite concerned," a suave and calm voice spoke up.

Kirei looked to the door to his office and spotted a blonde-haired man with red eyes standing in the doorframe. The man exuded a charisma which instantly made him seem trustworthy and capable of befriending someone. Even dressed casually he seemed to hold a grace fit for a king that couldn't be extinguished even if you covered him in cow manure.

Ironic since the man before him was hailed as the King of Heroes.

"The War has been given a wild card like none before and he's been given a Servant that only appeared once before and is responsible for the current state of the Grail," Kiriei answered patiently. He knew better than to be his usually innocently aggravating self to this man. He'd be reduced to a red paste in but a moment.

"Hmm, and here I thought the only interesting points of this War would be the demi-god and Saber," the man smiled, although the eagerness for battle was quite clear in his eyes. Hiding emotions had no real purpose to him. "Just who is this wild card?"

"If what I saw through Lancer's eyes was right, his name is Ben Tennyson," Kirei answered. "He's quite famous over in America. Quite the hero."

"A hero?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow. "I will be more than willing to test that claim."

"I daresay you'll get your chance," Kirei replied. "He should be coming in to the Church soon if Avenger is following the rules. Who knows? Maybe you'll see something you'll like."

"Perhaps," the golden-haired man shrugged, although his actions seem to speak of not having much hope of that. Shrugging, he turned around and began walking away. "I feel like topping off my mana. I'll be back."

"Of course," Kirei nodded, looking back to his papers. His thoughts once again tried to distract him from the possible implications of an 8th Servant and her Master as he tried to complete his next sermon. The boy and his knight could be dealt with in time. They were merely a complication, nothing more. Once he had enough information, they could be dealt with. If they should truly make themselves into a threat or worse, there was always Gilgamesh ready to deal with them.

**To Be Continued…**

A/N: Hey everyone. This whole story idea just popped into my head one day and it just wouldn't leave so I had to get into in writing or else it was going to drive me insane. Chapter 1 is a little short, I admit it but this started out as just a one shot idea for the Idea Farm. Soon after, it took on a life of its own and became a full-blown story. So now this chapter is just to set the stage, introduce Avenger, and get Ben started onto his path through the Holy Grail War.

This story won't be following Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, or Heaven's Feel scenarios although there will be elements from each of them. This isn't a simple 'put a new character into another's place and follow the same plot' kind of fic. Ben's been added to the mix rather than replacing a puzzle piece so his actions and appearances are going to bring about consequences and changes. For those of you wondering how an eighth Servant got involved in this, that will be explained later.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Ben 10 or Fate/Stay Night. Those belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and hopefully for the enjoyment of my readers.**

Fate/Stay Night: Ultimate Master

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Night 2: Rules are Made to be Broken

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

Ben yawned as he headed for the kitchen, scratching his head. The events of the previous night were still playing in his head. He was no stranger to the weird, but being suddenly conscripted into a war for an object which could grant a wish for anything he wanted with the use of magically selected 'Servants' was something new even for him. After his talk with Avenger the previous night, he felt he got a pretty good grasp on the situation, enough to know what he needed to ask the moderator for the war anyway.

Avenger had taken up residence in one of the extra rooms, at Ben's insistence. The blonde knight had originally wanted to sleep in the same room as Ben so to better protect him should someone try to attack him in the night. Her preference was to actually sleep in the same bed for optimal protection. Naturally Ben wouldn't allow such a thing no matter how attractive Avenger was and spent several minutes on convincing her that he was perfectly safe for the time being and very much capable of defending himself so long as he had the Ultimatrix on him. Avenger's arguments lost some steam when she recalled what her master was capable of and she eventually relented to his wishes.

'_Not that I wasn't sorely tempted to let her,_' Ben thought groggily to himself. Again, Avenger was a very attractive woman and she had that charm which mature women had in the eyes of teenagers. Most of the boys Ben knew would have taken one look at Avenger and would have happily let her share their bed at her insistence. However, Ben liked to think he had a better head on his shoulders than most guys his age. Avenger's only interest was seeing him as her master, something most guys his age probably wouldn't notice as they stared at her face and body.

"Okay, what's for breakfast?" he murmured sleepily, heading for the fridge.

"Good morning Master."

"GAH!" Ben cried, jumping in fright from the sudden interruption. Turning around and clutching his heart, Ben saw Avenger facing him, dressed in her armour and had her helmet clutched under her arm. She blinked at Ben's rather surprising reaction. The Ultimatrix wielder gasped as he tried to calm his heart down. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry Master," Avenger apologized, bowing her head. "What are your plans for today?"

"Well, breakfast first," Ben replied, turning back to the fridge. "Is there anything in particular you'd like? I'm not really that great of a cook so I wouldn't want you to expect anything complicated. If you feel like something fancy we could always get some room service though the price for anything I'm familiar with is too much even for my taste."

"Anything will be fine Master," Avenger replied, a small smile on her face.

"Okay," Ben nodded, grabbing several items of food. "I think I can toss together some omelettes. Do you want anything in them?"

"I have no preferences in particular," Avenger replied, turning towards the kitchen table.

"Straight eggs then," Ben nodded.

Ben quickly set to work and got together a pair of breakfast omelettes and toast with all of the fixings. It wasn't grand by any means, but it was nice enough. Avenger and Ben quickly set to work on getting their stomachs filled. However, Avenger quickly asked for more toast and liberal amounts of toppings. It eventually turned to three extra servings of toast for Avenger, doubling what Ben took. It surprised Ben that someone so thin could eat so much, but he took it in stride. Ben quickly took the dishes away as Avenger stood at attention, ready for what may come next.

"What are your plans now Master?" she asked.

"I guess we'd better check in with that moderator," Ben shrugged, setting the dishes in the sink for later. Glancing at Avenger, he quirked an eyebrow, "Um…do you have anything else to wear? Walking around in silver armour kind of sticks out. That phasing thing doesn't seem practical since I don't know how to do it and you said that when you do it you start feeling pressure. Too much would probably not be a good thing."

"Very true. Fortunately, I have a solution," Avenger replied. Closing her eyes, Ben watched before Avenger's full body began to shine. Her armour started glowing before her whole body began to follow. The radiant light was there for a moment, but then quickly died down. Ben rubbed his eyes to get the sparkles out and quickly looked to Avenger.

The blonde's outfit transformed entirely. She was no longer donned in the silver armour and chainmail. Instead, she was in a black blouse done up by buttons along with white pants and jacket. Her feet were covered in black shoes. Her hair was left in a ponytail but she had sunglasses over her eyes, "Is this acceptable Master?"

"Um…yes," Ben blinked. There was no doubt about it; Avenger was definitely attractive even when she was wearing less than feminine clothes. Shaking his head, he tried to get his thoughts back on track, "You know, you don't have to call me Master. Please just call me Ben."

"Very well Ben," Avenger nodded. "Shall we go?"

* * *

**Shinto-Streets**

Tohsaka Rin frowned in confusion as she cast an eye on her surroundings on the passing people as she travelled down the sidewalks. She should have been in school of course, but with the Grail War going on, she couldn't afford to make herself a target. Nothing could be taken for granted and nothing could be left to chance. She was putting her life on the line and she wasn't going to make any sloppy mistakes in this war lest she die and completely miss out on the prize, shaming her heritage.

Rin was a high school student who went to the local school. She was a pretty girl with long black hair done up in two ponytails with black ribbon. Her eyes were bright blue, and held a kind of maturity that mixed with her intelligence and natural looks, made her one of the most desired girls in the school. Usually she would have been wearing a school uniform, but was instead wearing a red shirt with a cross on the front with a black skirt. She was from a long line of mages, ones who had co-founded the Holy Grail War along with the Einzberns and Makiris. She had a lot of personal expectations on herself since her mother was suffering from brain damage-induced delusions and her father was dead.

"Are you sure it was this way Archer?" she asked, seeming thin air.

"_I'm sure,_" a male voice replied.

In truth, only in her eyes could she see her Servant who was astralized. He was an older man with a black outfit and red overcoat. His skin was tanned and his hair was white and slicked back. He was definitely cynical, but save for a few independent actions, he was obedient. He didn't seem to like her friend Emiya Shirou all that much, but he kept his words back. Right now, that was all she needed of her Archer.

Recently, with the summoning of Saber to Shirou, Rin thought that perhaps now she could really get her strategies going. Her alliance with Shirou seemed to be working well for the time being. Although it was difficult sometimes with Shirou's ideals concerning saving people and such. Honestly, this was a war, not some kind of manga or video game. Killing people was a necessity be it the Masters or their Servants. It was the only way to really win and despite how many times Rin and even Saber told him, Shirou remained adamant in his beliefs.

In the previous night, the familiar pulse of a Servant being summoned hit the senses of everyone who was sensitive to it. It certainly made Rin suspicious since Saber was the last Servant to be summoned, or at least she was supposed to be the last one. Something strange was going on and Rin was determined to figure out what. Too many things were going on coupled with Berserker being HERCULES of all people, not to mention that she still wasn't sure who the Masters of Lancer, Rider, Caster and Assassin were yet. Too many variables were still unknown and she didn't need an eighth Servant of all things making the situation worse.

So far, tracking down the energy source was proving to be difficult at the moment, despite the combination of Archer and her own senses. A fair amount of time had passed between when the Servant was summoned and now. The energy had dissipated and the source was long gone. All that she really knew was that the summoning had occurred out in the open, which made Rin believe that whoever had received the eighth Servant probably got them in the same way Shirou had gotten Saber; a fluke. A completely random chance managed to win someone a Servant and possibly a legitimate chance at the Grail, making for one more opponent for her to deal with.

"Hopefully we can deal with this before it gets too out of hand," Rin muttered.

* * *

**Miyama—Kotomine Church**

"This seems to be the place," Ben muttered as he eyed the Catholic Church which was really the only one in Fuyuki City. He never had been one for formal religion, having never set foot near a church until that wedding back when he was ten where his relative Joel Tennyson got married to the Sludgepuppy, Camille. Last he heard their marriage was going on strong with talks of kids in the possible future. At the very least Joel's parents weren't as trigger happy around their daughter-in-law's species anymore.

The building itself looked very impressive, sporting all of the gothic carving one would expect from the older churches which had been established over the centuries. It had a cobblestone walkway which was connecting the front door to the sidewalks. Said path was surrounded on both sides by a large amount of bushes before open grass led to large trees. It was a cozy and warm spot for a church, the American boy had to admit.

"I don't feel right about this place Ben," Avenger frowned as she eyed the church. "This is supposed to be holy ground, yet I feel some kind of malevolent force connected to this building."

"Anything we should worry about?" asked Ben, his eyes narrowing as he started entering his battle state of mind.

"Nothing as of yet," Avenger denied, shaking her head. "Although, I would stay on guard. I will remain outside should the source of this malevolence merely be out at the moment. Please make the meeting brief if you can. I do not wish to be in the presence of a tainted church any longer than I must."

"Right," Ben nodded. "I'll try to be quick."

Approaching the church, Ben quietly entered. He had half-expected the large door to creak ominously, but it was as silent as a well-oiled hinge could be. Inside the church seemed to be a humble place with the only real decoration being the stained glass window which was at the back of the building and the one which was made part of the ceiling. Aside from the few arches made of finely carved wood, that was about as artistic as it got. The stained glass windows also brought in a large amount of prismatic lighting which gave the place a most holy feeling. All in all, it seemed to Ben that the impression of the inside of Churches he had come to think of was well founded.

No one was there, leaving only a few flickering candles at a small altar behind the front pedestal where the priest would conduct sermons. Ben tried to treat softly since he just knew that anything he did would create a noise that would echo as loudly as a cannon firing. Even if no one was in the main area, Ben didn't want to disturb anyone unnecessarily.

"Can I help you my son?"

"Wagh!" For a second time, Ben yelped as someone managed to find a way behind him and scare a bejeezus out of him. Turning, he found himself looking at a man in his twenties who wore the standard priestly robes and had brown hair which reached down to his shoulders and brown eyes. He was smiling in a friendly manner, seemingly welcoming anyone who sought entry into the church. In all, he was very non-threatening. However, Ben couldn't help but get the feeling that when he looked into the man's eyes, he was looking into a hollow hole. Under his arm was a dish filled with Yen in the forms of coins and bills, making Ben believe that he had been collecting donations when the teen had entered and was thus beside the door rather than at the front.

"I…I think so…Father," Ben nodded, remembering the proper way to address a Catholic priest. "Are you Kotomine Kirei, the one who leads this Church?"

"I am," the man nodded.

Ben knew that Kotomine Kirei had been involved in the strange events which plagued Fuyuki ten years ago, but now with what Avenger had told him about the war it seemed that he knew exactly what was going on. The priest was even now a moderator for the current war and was probably as deep down as one could get without directly competing with the other mages. Ben had wanted to track the man down to ask him about those incidents, but now it seemed rather moot since he was actively pursuing the source, the Holy Grail.

"Then there's something I really need to talk to you about," Ben continued.

"Well, confessionals aren't until this afternoon, but I can make an exception if you feel this cannot wait," Kirei answered, looking almost concerned.

"This isn't a confession," Ben replied. "I wanted to talk to you about the Holy Grail."

Kirei's eyes narrowed slightly, but not enough to look threatening…yet, "While I know some of the myths, I'm hardly a scholarly expert on the subject."

Ben recognized a cover when he heard one. His grandpa and the other Plumbers had used them numerous times in the past, redirecting someone's questions to other places or making small lies that were hard to prove or disprove. Kirei was obviously an old hand at it, using the fact that Christian beliefs had the Holy Grail as a cup of Christ as well as the fact that the man was a priest and would be able to deflect such questions in the manner that he was doing now.

"And the seven Servants who fight for it under the order of seven Masters," Ben finished, watching the priest's reaction.

Kirei was silent for a moment as his face turned to all business. Again, not enough to be threatening or even mildly discomforting but enough to let you know that he was taking you seriously, "I see. Please, follow me to my office. We can discuss things there."

Ben nodded and followed the Priest through one of the back doors. They travelled down a hallway before coming across one of many doors that entered into a furnished office, decorated with bookshelves, bookshelves, and lots of books. Kirei gestured for Ben to take a seat while he grabbed a pair of books from one of the bookshelves. Seating himself, Kirei looked at Ben, "I confess a curiosity how an American boy of all people learned about the Holy Grail War. Who told you?"

"My Servant," Ben answered simply. "Avenger."

"I see," Kirei frowned. "The Grail War usually operates with only seven Servants. An eighth has only happened once in its entire history and has since then never happened again. Can you prove to me that you are a Master with a Servant?"

"Yes," Ben nodded before he rolled back his right sleeve and revealed the red markings etched onto his flesh, marking his Mastery over Avenger. "Is this proof enough?"

"Very much so. Markings such as those cannot be faked," Kirei nodded. "Since you are officially a Master with a Servant, do you wish to compete? You aren't being forced to by any means. I can offer you sanctuary here at the church, but you will have to remove your Command Sigils so to properly signal you're dropping out."

"Oh no, I'm in this to the end," Ben frowned, covering his arm again. "Still, if I'm going to compete, I need to know what's going on."

"Of course," Kirei nodded, gesturing to Ben. "Please ask your questions."

"Avenger told me that her name really isn't Avenger and I ran into a guy who called himself Lancer," Ben explained. "Why do they call themselves that?

"It's to protect their true names," Kirei answered. "You see, the Servants are what you would call Heroic Spirits. They are the souls of heroes throughout history which by their legendary actions, have been sent to the Throne of Heroes, a place where such souls ascend to an existence of a near Divine Spirit, and acts as a power that will protect humanity should they be needed. They are enshrined gods of man's own making and the people who know and believe in their legends make them strong. Your Servant, as well as Lancer and the other six are all heroes from ages past whose legends are by and large still known today."

"Woah." Ben blinked. Avenger was a mythical hero? That was awesome! "So…the reason they don't use their names is because if the other Masters knew them, they'd know how to beat them?"

"Exactly," Kirei nodded. "To that end, each of the Servants are referred to by their Class names. It's safer that way."

"Class?"

"Each of the Servants are selected by their special skills, which are grouped together as a Class," Kirei explained, opening his book and pulling out eight tarot cards. "While this gives hints into who they were in life, it is a much safer means of referring to them rather than by their true names. Furthermore, only one of each Class are permitted to be summoned for the Grail War." Taking one of the cards, he placed it on the desk, facing Ben. It depicted a man with a large hat and Victorian era clothing wearing bronze armour over his chest and left arm, holding a spear. "The first is Lancer, skilled warriors in the arts of spear fighting and considered the fastest of the classes."

The next card depicted a knight in full armour wielding a sword, "Saber, the knight of the sword and considered the most outstanding of the Servant classes."

Kirei revealed a third card, this one with a woman in a red skirt and some body armour wielding a bow and arrow," Next is Archer, often having almost supernatural senses along with mastery of their weapon."

Another card was revealed, this one revealing a knight on a chariot, "Rider, a master of many diverse skills and a terror on the battlefield."

The fifth card depicted a gangly man with a large sword and a wolf's head, "Berserker, a sad soul that had traded their sanity for power. Not to be underestimated."

Kirei dropped the sixth card, showing a wizened old man in robes holding a staff, "Caster, a mage from the past who wields powerful magic lost to modern mages."

The seventh card dropped, revealing a man garbed in black with a skull face mask. "Assassin, the master of silent killing."

Finally, Kirei dropped the eighth card, depicted a long-haired man pinned in place by chains attached to walls outside of the picture and garbed in a loincloth while his hands and feet were covered in leather and chains, "Lastly is your Servant, Avenger. These Servants are those who fight for a cause, desiring to right wrongs be it personal or for someone else."

"Don't they all do that?" asked Ben. "I mean, they are Heroic Spirits, right?"

"True, but not all of them gained their legends by doing something legendary because they wanted to," Kirei explained. "Some of them did such things out of a sense of duty or because they were ordered to by a higher force. Avengers are different because they didn't have to do what they did. They chose their actions and became legends."

"I see."

Ben took in the sights and brief explanations as to what each of the Servant Classes were capable of. As far as he could tell, each of them were powerful in their own rights. No one Servant seemed to be more powerful than another save for what individual strength and weaknesses the personal Servant might have. None of them sounded like they were going to be easy to take on. He likewise didn't know exactly what specific strengths Avenger had that topped the others.

"So how exactly do I win this war?" asked Ben. "Avenger told me I have to be the last one standing, but how do I eliminate the others?"

"Oh that's quite simple," Kirei replied. "Either kill the Servants and send them back to the Throne of Souls or kill their Masters. Without a source of mana, the Servants will dissipate soon enough."

Ben grimaced at the mere thought of killing anyone. That wasn't the kind of guy he was and he sure wasn't going to start unless there was no other way. Sure, some of his enemies may have died in the past like Zs'skayr, The Great One, and that fungus thing back when he was ten. However, Zs'skayr kept managing to revive himself thanks to Ectonurite biology and the other guys he really didn't have much of a choice with lest they devour or enslave the world. That didn't mean he wanted to use that option unless he had to. Still, a possible avenue of escape was with the Servants. Technically they were already dead so just beating them up enough to force them to return to the Throne of Heroes would be good enough.

'_Hm, Throne of Heroes. I wonder if I'll end up there when I kick the bucket,_' Ben pondered to himself. Sighing, he looked to Kirei, "I guess that answers all of my questions Father. I'll stick with this to the end and see how well I do."

"Then before you go, there is one last thing you'll need," Kirei replied. Taking one of the books he had collected, he handed it over to Ben. It was leather bound and looked like it had several glyphs marked on its covers. Ben hesitatingly took it. "This is a constantly updating source of information on all of the Servants. It will only have information on Avenger and perhaps some on Lancer. As you learn more about the Servants and their masters, the more information will be found in its pages."

"Handy," Ben nodded, flipping through the book and finding a picture of Avenger and some of her statistics. Closing the book, Ben placed it in his jacket before standing up. "Then I guess I'd better get going."

"Then may you go with the blessing of the Grail," Kirei nodded, smiling at Ben

The American boy nodded back and left the office. Sticking his hands in his pockets, Ben began going over several of the things he had learned so far. It looked like it was just him and Avenger against another seven teams of mages and Servants. With the stakes, everyone was going to do whatever it took to be the last one standing and there was a long way to sink when you wanted something badly enough. With something like the Grail on the line then many if not all of the participants were going to be desperate enough to try anything they could.

The odds were against him, but Ben tended to beat the odds over and over again.

Exiting from the church, Ben glanced to the front and spotted Avenger keeping a dutiful eye out for trouble. Now that he knew she was in fact a hero from the past, he couldn't help but wonder who she was. If he was a betting guy, he'd think she came from Europe since she seemed to be of the Caucasian ethnic group. She wore European style of armour, albeit heavily decorated in a romanticized style. It made him curious as to who she was.

As he strode closer to the street, Ben suddenly felt a burning sensation in his right hand. Grimacing, he took the offending limb out of his pocket and found his Command Sigils glowing brightly. Ben could tell that something was up with the markings and he didn't like it. Considering all of the magic stuff that was going on, Ben was sure that the markings were trying to tell him something. But what…

"MASTER!"

"Huh?" Ben looked up from his hand to see Avenger running towards him, looking almost panicked. However, his eyes were quickly drawn to something red that was hiding in a nearby tree with something else red near the trunk. However, that quickly left his notice when he saw that the higher red thing seemed to be pointing at him with something. He could tell because the sun was glinting off of it. Ben only needed to take one look at the item in the heartbeat he noticed it.

It was coming right for him.

Then all went up in smoke.

* * *

**Miyama—Kotomine Church**

"Got him," Archer smirked as the boy in green went up in the explosion. The arrow wasn't anything special, just something he traced on the fly although he did pump enough od into it to make the explosion work. A guaranteed kill.

"Good job," Rin nodded. She really didn't approve of this kind of tactic but she really didn't have too much of a choice. This was war and war made people do some pretty terrible things, especially when such a prize was involved. She just kept reminding herself that she had her heritage to think of and what she would wish for once she got the Grail. She had to admit though that it was kind of a waste for that Master to get killed like he did. He was rather cute for a gaijin.

The Servant of said gaijin turned to glare at Archer and Rin, obviously enraged at what had occurred. Her body flashed with white light before she re-emerged covered from head to toe with silver armour and chainmail. The ivy was a certainly decorative touch, but the white sword which she was wielding was certainly anything but decorative. Her face plate was up for a moment, allowing both Master and Servant to see her face. For the briefest of moments, both Archer and Rin swore they were looking at Saber despite knowing she was back at the Emiya estate.

Shaking herself back to her hardened thoughts, Rin gave her orders, "She's not going to let us go without a fight. See if you can get her to drain what prana she has so she'll vanish."

"On it," Archer nodded, dismissing his bow and readying to trace Kanshou and Bakuya. "Trace…"

"**Cannonbolt!**"

Archer was cut off by the deep voice before what seemed to be a large yellow and black ball burst from the smoke which his arrow had created and raced towards him like a bat out of hell. The ball impacted against the ground between them, but quickly bounced and soared at Archer. The sheer surprise of such a sight when he thought he had made a sure kill stunned even Archer's honed senses. It was only for a heartbeat, but that heartbeat was all the ball needed to slam Archer off of his perch, sending him crashing to the ground not far from the stunned Rin.

The ball hit the ground with a slam before it unfurled to reveal a living creature. It was somewhat squat with trunk-like legs and no feet. Its arms were thick and bulky with black and yellow sections of what appeared to be hard carapace. It didn't have a head, but a large face in the middle of its torso, lined with black. Just underneath it's large mouth was a green hourglass symbol which did not look natural. For the most part the creature was white, but its back was covered with the same yellow and black carapace as its arms were. On its left arm armour was a blackened spot which was smoking, indicating that Archer's arrow had landed on target. What was the most surprising though was the Command Mantra glowing on the monster's right hand indicating that it had been the boy that Archer had shot at a moment ago.

"M-Master?" Avenger blinked.

"I thought I told you to call me Ben," Cannonbolt smirked, glancing at the stunned Avenger. Turning back to the recovering Archer and still shocked Rin, he began to frown. "I take it that you must be Archer or Assassin. Either way, I already don't like you."

Archer didn't say a word as he traced Kanshou and Bakuya into his hands. He had absolutely no clue what he was dealing with at the moment. He sure didn't remember fighting a monster like this during the last time. He could guess that it was highly durable, having taken one of his arrows and just shrugged it off. It likewise had that ball ability and was able to bounce around like a pinball. The armour itself wasn't too much of an obstacle to pass once he started breaking out Noble Phantasms. The problem was that Rin was nearby and despite how he wished he could just leave her to rot in favour of completing his goals sometimes, he needed her alive to supply him with prana

"W-w-wha-WHAT?" Rin finally managed to bleat out, the shock still catching up with her.

"Hmph!" Archer frowned, taking a battle stance. "Don't know what the heck you're supposed to be, but I'm not about to let you be one of the ones who get away."

"Oh I'm not going to be getting away, I'm going to pound you back to the Throne of Heroes where you belong!" Cannonbolt growled before he curled up into a ball again before rocketing at Archer with as much speed as he could muster. Archer however, was prepared and sidestepped the attack while slashing with his two swords. The blades hit Cannonbolt's hide with a blast of sparks, but didn't seemingly affect the rolling mass. Archer frowned deeper, realizing he may need something better to beat this thing. Pooling his prana for another Trace, he felt a presence approach him from behind before he leaped away, feeing part of his coat get shredded by the sword of Avenger.

Landing, Archer took another stance to keep an eye on both Avenger and Cannonbolt, "Almost forgot about you."

"Benefits of a unique Master," the silver knight answered.

Cannonbolt quickly turned himself around so to try and get at Archer again. As he uncurled for better turning ability, he was suddenly assaulted by several powerful impacts hitting against both his armour and his softer bits. "Ow! Hey!" Shielding his face with the armour on his arms, he glanced to see where the impacts were coming from. To some measure of surprise, he saw the girl in red was pointing her finger at him like her finger was a gun. Surprisingly enough, blasts of energy were firing from the digit at him. The blasts themselves weren't incredibly dangerous to him in his Arburian Pelarota form, but against a human being they would make just about anyone's day pretty bad.

Cannonblt knew that this girl could deal some considerable damage to Avenger if she decided to go after his Servant, making it easier for the man in red to get an opening. He would have to take her out of the equation without hurting her. Gritting his teeth, Cannonbolt charged at the red-clad girl on his own two feet, making her begin shooting more rapidly in attempts of hitting a sensitive spot. Still, Cannonbolt was undeterred and as he got closer enough, he managed to wrap his arms around the magus, pinning her arms and preventing her from attacking again.

"Wagh!" she cried out, eyes actually showing fear. "ARCHER!"

The red-clad Servant halted in his battle with Avenger to see his Master in Cannonbolt's arms. His eyes widening, he gripped both of his Chinese swords and hurled them at the round monster. Like they were attracted to one another, the blades flew at each other just as much as they were to Cannonbolt. The blades connected heavily against Cannonbolt's back, creating a blast of sparks and smoke from the high amount of prana which Archer had flooded into the weapons. The stored magic in the weapons was unleashed on impact, sending Cannonbolt and Rin flying. The pseudo-Arburian Pelatrota quickly curled into a ball and crashed against the ground heavily before unleashing the fastest spin that he could. Rather than move though, he just kept spinning and turning at a pace which made the black and yellow armour blur. Coming to an abrupt stop, Cannobolt unrolled and let Rin stumble out before she collapsed, her eyes swirly and her face more than a little green from it all.

"One down," the ball alien grunted before he took of to help Avenger with Archer.

"Uhhhhhhhh," Rin moaned like a zombie, wanting the world to stop spinning.

With the red-clad girl too dizzy to do just about anything, Cannonbolt rolled towards Archer and Avenger, the red-clad Servant already holding a new pair of Kanshou and Bakuya, the other pair dissolving into nothing upon their explosive impact. The two were clashing against one another with Avenger's blade holding up reasonably well against Archer's dual sword style. Archer still had the advantage with his two weapons and higher speed, but Avenger wasn't far enough behind to make the advantage a decisive one yet. Archer glanced back at his Master as his blades clashed against Avenger's and saw Cannonbolt gunning for him with Rin lying on the ground. She was still alive since the connection was still strong. What confused him was as to why the monster didn't just kill her when it had the chance. He wasn't complaining, but now both Master and Servant were coming down on him at the same time. Gritting his teeth, Avenger leaped back as Cannonbolt came crashing to the ground while Avenger swerved out of the way.

"Dammit," Archer cursed, staring down the knight and monster.

"This is your one chance," Cannonbolt growled. "Give up and go back to the Throne of Heroes. Otherwise we'll have to get rough."

"Do I look like the type who gives up so easy?" asked Archer.

"Just thought I'd be nice," Cannonbolt shrugged, slamming his fists together. "You still good to go Avenger?"

"Yes Ben," Avenger nodded.

Archer grit his teeth as he prepared to fight once more. Two against one odds were never really that big of a deal to him, but when he was up against something he had no clue about then that was when he managed to get concerned. He had a sneaking suspicion that the monster was a naïve kid like Emiya if how merciful he was with Rin and giving him a chance to give up were any indication. Under normal circumstances, Archer would have just ignored him but the ability to turn into monsters would make that a foolish move. Instead, he stared them down, waiting for the tension to break.

The sun was obscured by a shadow.

'_Wait,_' Archer frowned, his eyes turning skyward. '_There's no clouds today…_'

The three combatants looked up only to see what appeared to be a black meteor coming down at them. The trio's eyes widened before they bolted out of range of the shadow as it impacted with the earth with the force of a bomb, sending dust and stone in all directions. Cannonbolt and Avenger skidded to a halt, shielding their eyes so they could see what had almost crushed them. Archer was still running, scooping up the dizzy Rin in his arms before leaping away, leaving the Master and Servant pair to deal with whatever had come down on them.

As the dust cleared, Cannonbolt found his stomach sinking as he eyed when had hit. What he was looking at was a towering mass of muscle and power that easily rose over the pair despite being in the middle of a crater. His form was humanoid, but every inch of his skin was a gunmetal gray that almost absorbed sunlight. His hair was as black as night hand hung down his back like a twisted mass of brambles like out of a nightmare. The only shred of clothing he wore was an armoured kilt of some kind while in his right hand was a giant stone weapon which had a jagged edge, making it look like the devilish love child of an axe and a sword. Finally, the man's features were almost chiselled into a scowl with a pair of mismatched eyes, one red while the other was seemed like molten gold. Cannonbolt took one look at the animalistic rage boiling in the eyes and quickly came to a conclusion.

"I take it…this is Berserker…" he gulped.

"That's right!" was the reply he got, but it didn't come from Avenger. Instead, it came from the steps of the church. Sitting on the steps was a little girl who didn't seem to be any older than eleven or twelve. She wore a dark purple blouse with a white dress. Her skin was oddly pale and her hair was an equal shade of white. Her eyes stood out most, being bright red. Cannonbolt took her as an albino and considering how she seemed to be completely at ease with Berserker's presence, he likewise guessed that she was his Master.

"My name's Illyasviel Von Einzbern!" the little girl introduced with a dramatic wave of her hand. Her smile then turned impish as she gazed at Cannonbolt with excitement in her eyes. "But you can call me Illya-chan, Ben-niichan."

"Huh?" Cannonbolt gaped. This girl knew him? As Cannonbolt? Granted he was famous, but this girl had a German accent, making him think she wasn't from America and as far as he knew, foreign countries hadn't gotten wind of him yet. At best, they knew his name and a little of what he could do, but not enough to garner real interest. "How did you-?"

"How could I not know?" Illya giggled, acting as if Ben was just being silly. "My family's been keeping an eye on your ever since you were made public! We really want to know how you can do the things you do!" she giggled again. "I just didn't think you'd be picked as a Master! Coming to this Church to see if the eighth Master would show up was such a good idea!"

Cannonbolt and Avenger glanced at each other and then back at Illya who was still giggling. This was definitely beginning to feel like one of those weird days which Cannonbolt knew so well. So far, it was ranking pretty high what with the adorable little girl and the huge hulking monster-man.

"Now I can see you transform a whole lot and eliminate you too!" Illya grinned, her eyes starting to gain a disturbing gleam. "Berserker! Attack!"

The towering mass of muscle unleashed a horrendous bellow before he began to charge out of his crater and towards the pair, raising his weapon high. Cannonbolt was rolled up in a flash, hurtling across the ground towards the towering Servant.

"Ben, wait!" Avenger cried. "He's much too strong-!"

Cannonbolt was in no condition to hear as he bounced from the ground before slamming into straight into Berserker's chest with all the force his weight and armour could muster. The impact didn't even rattle the towering man before the recoil made Cannonbolt bounce backwards before crashing on the ground in a heap.

"…ow," the alien groaned.

"Ben!" Avenger cried, running to her Master.

"Looks like Cannonbolt won't cut it Ben-Niichan!" Illya giggled. "You'll have to come up with something better!"

Cannonbolt groaned as Avenger helped pull him up to his feet, "Ben, we should retreat. Berserker is hailed as one of the strongest of the seven Classes despite difficulty in controlling them. I don't doubt this Berserker could be called the mightiest of them all!"

"Love to, but I don't think he or the girl will let us," Cannonbolt groaned, watching as Berserker kept coming, not even showing a mark from where the Arburian Pelarota had struck him. He just continued coming with his weapon at the ready, prepared to cut up both of his targets until they were a pulpy mess. Frowning, Cannonbolt reached to the Ultimatrix icon on his chest. "Time to go ultimate!"

Cannonbolt twisted and then slapped the icon; making four strips of steel similar to clamps come from four corners of it. The icons gave off a whirring sound before a green wave of energy pulsed out from the icon, spreading over Cannonbolt's body. As the wave ended, all of Cannonbolt's white sections had turned to a pale blue or gray colour. His armoured sections had turned to the same colour and even the same durability of tick steel. Each of his armoured sections likewise grew still spikes (on his back) or rods (from his hips, arms, and shoulders). Clenching his fists, Cannonbolt let out his cry, "**Ultimate Cannonbolt!**"

"Wow!" Illya gasped in surprise. "We didn't know you could do that!" she clapped her hands in delight. "Berserker! Make him show me more!"

The mad Servant merely bellowed again and put on speed in his advance. U. Cannonbolt growled and curled up into a ball again, this time looking like a ball of solid steel and spikes rather than a giant pill bug. Avenger, still at a bit of a loss at the change, could only watch as U. Cannonbolt shot towards the advancing Berserker once again. This time, the evolved Arburian Pelarota tore up the ground savagely as he went, showing that the rods and spikes he sported were definitely not for show. His speed was also much greater than before, meaning the force of his attacks were likewise greater. Berserker still didn't care and bellowed another challenge as he took aim with his weapon once again. Like before, U. Cannonbolt bounced, albeit looking stiffer than the previous attempt, and crashed straight into Berserker's chest once again. This time Berserker's charge was halted as dust flew all around from the impact. The force even made Berserker take a few steps back so to maintain his balance. However, the mad Servant growled angrily and grabbed one of the offending spikes before tossing U. Cannonbolt into the air. Showing a speed which was surprising considering his frame, Berserker slammed/slashed his weapon at the alien, making the sound of metal grinding against metal before U. Cannonbolt was shot with the force of a bullet, smashing into a nearby tree and knocking it over completely.

U. Cannonbolt groaned and uncurled himself, feeling pain echo through his back from the impact. He was pretty sure the armour was cracked too, which went to show just how powerful Berserker really was. Shaking his head, he looked to see Berserker and that he had several holes in his chest which were leaking some blood. "Well, at least he's not invin…cible?" U. Cannonbolt's words died in his throat as the holes he had made in Berserker's hide closed up in seconds, leaving no trace they were there. "Oh come on!"

"Ehhehehehehe!" Illya giggled again. "Pretty good, but not good enough Ben-niichan! My Berserker's one of the strongest there is! Keep trying though! I want to see you change more!"

"I'm gonna need someone with some muscle," murmured U. Cannonbolt. He then slapped the Ultimatrix, restoring him back to regular Cannonbolt before slapping it again. In a flash of green light he transformed into a new form.

The being which emerged from the green light was definitely not something remotely resembling a dinosaur. Instead, what emerged was a small white humanoid figure which was smaller than Illya was. He had a large head that sported green eyes and a green mouth with white cords connecting his head to a pack on his back. In the centre of his chest was the symbol of the Ultimatrix, marking him as another one of Ben Tennyson's many transformations. "**Echo-Echo!**"

"So cute!" Illya squealed.

"What?" Echo-Echo gaped, looking himself over. Sighing, he glanced at the Ultimatrix symbol and muttered, "Why do you hate Humungousaur?"

If Echo-Echo was cute or not, Berserker didn't care. He just picked up his murderous charge once again, aiming to turn both the alien and his Servant into paste on the ground. Avenger quickly took a stance, ready to defend her Master who was obviously in a weaker for unsuited to dealing with Berserker's might.

Then Echo-Echo ran past her towards the towering monster.

"Ben!" she cried, trying to bring her Master back before he hurt himself.

Then another Echo-Echo ran past her.

Then another.

Three Echo-Echos were in front of her, standing in a united front against Berserker who only saw them as ants to be crushed. Again, Avenger wanted to yank her Master back so to properly protect him like a good Servant should, but she had a feeling her Master wasn't the type to stand back and watch while he was able to do something about the situation. That and she wasn't entirely sure which one of the little white creatures were her true Master.

"Avenger! Cover your ears!" the Echo-Echo on the far right called out to the armoured blonde. Obediently, Avenger did so though she wasn't completely sure why. She quickly got her answer though when the three white aliens opened their mouths and unleashed powerful sonic screams which rocked the ground in front of them. The knight immediately screamed before she threw off her helmet and clenched her ears, the noise having actually echoed slightly in her helmet. Illya likewise screamed as she was closer to the receiving side of the attack as she struggled to save her eardrums from the attack. Berserker though stopped like he struck a brick wall before he bellowed in pain and grabbed his ears. His weapon dropped to the ground with a loud crash which was drowned out by Echo-Echo's screams.

Despite the pain he was obviously going through, Berserker still kept coming even though the screams were pushing against him with physical force and no doubt really hurting his ears. Echo-Echo could tell that Berserker wasn't going to stop even though he had been slowed down considerably. The glare in his insane eyes sure revealed he wasn't going to quit anytime soon and the bellow from his mouth made it even clearer even if the sonic scream hadn't drowned it out. Echo-Echo also knew that the Ultimatrix was likely going to time out soon. He hadn't been keeping track of the time the fight had taken, but he knew his limit was coming up. If he timed out now he'd be vulnerable to Berserker and he might as well be a sitting duck.

With a silent gesture, a fourth Echo-Echo sprouted from the body of the centre one. Running quickly to the side, it inhaled deeply before unleashing its own sonic scream which tore up the ground, sending debris and dust in all directions, clouding Illya and Berserker from sight. With the enemies' eyes clouded, the four Echo-Echo quickly merged into one singular white alien before that one turned back to Avenger, "Let's get out of here!"

Wincing slightly, Avenger grabbed the tiny Sonorsian and ran away from the sight, using her considerable strengths to leap great distances away, even using what homes were around as stepping stones.

"*Cough! Cough!*" Illya gagged. "No fair! Something so cute shouldn't have such a strong attack! Cheater!"

The little girl's tantrum sputtered out quickly though as the dust cleared to reveal Avenger and Echo-Echo having fled in the confusion. Puffing her cheeks out, Illya stood up and crossed her arms in a huff. "Oooooh! How dare he run away! I wasn't done yet!" frowning, she glanced at Berserker who looked like he had recovered, but she knew that he was probably already too angry to really care about whatever pain he felt, if any. "Berserker! We're leaving!"

Berserker gave off a deep growl to show he was listening before he faded away into his astral form, cut off from Illya's full mana flow. The albino girl huffed and looked around at the mess which she, Ben, and that other Servant had created. "Now I have to clean up this mess! Fooey!"

* * *

**Miyama—Residential Street**

"Uuuuuugh," Rin moaned, leaning against a wall so to get her balance back and hopefully not barf all over the road. She and Archer fled the scene of the impending fight between the monster and Berserker, but they didn't get too far before Rin felt like she was going to be sick after several jumps. "Archer…what happened after that…thing, grabbed me?"

"Apparently it spun like crazy so to make you dizzy and take you out of the fight," Archer replied, watching Rin 'urp' before she covered her mouth. Maybe he shouldn't have jumped so many times, but then again it was kind of funny when he thought about it. "After that, both that monster and his Servant were going to fight me before that brat and Berserker showed up again. I took you and left. Maybe if we're lucky that psycho took them both out."

"Our luck hasn't been that good lately," Rin grumbled, holding her stomach. "Crap, just what the heck is that guy? He turned into that ball thing and managed to take an arrow from you of all people."

"It's armour is thick, but all I need is something stronger before I can pierce it. The arrow I used was hardly the strongest I have in my arsenal," the white-haired Servant shrugged. "I'll get it next time."

"What makes this so much is worse is that monster is a Master and that woman is his Servant," Rin grimaced, trying to see if she had gotten her balance back yet. "The markings were on its hand so we know that stays the same. Unless someone else takes it down first, we're going to have to fight it again."

"We'll be ready by then," Archer reassured his Master.

"Right," Rin moaned, leaning back against the wall once again since her balance decided to stay out. Her stomach then groaned once again in rebellion. "Hope we don't have to tell Emiya-kun about this part."

"Tohsaka-san? Is that you?"

Rin turned pale green as she turned to see her temporary housemate blinking in surprise at her.

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

"Oh man," Ben groaned as he and Avenger returned to their hotel room. His back ached severely from where Berserker had struck him. The teenager and adult woman were in their civies so to try and regroup after what they had both gone through at the Kotomine Church. If that was just him registering for the Grail War, he didn't want to know what it would be like in the big battles in the war itself.

"Just how did those guys find us anyway?" asked Ben, trying to massage his own back.

"If I were to guess, they sensed the energy my summoning gave off the previous night and decided that if we were a true Master and Servant pair, we would be going to that Church," Avenger sighed. "I hope this goes to show just what you are dealing with."

"Yeah," Ben grimaced, gingerly taking a seat so he could relax a little. "We've got some pretty stiff competition. Lancer was bad enough. If those were just Archer and Berserker, I'd hate to see what the others are like."

"Ben…Master," Avenger sighed, walking up to Ben so she could kneel down slightly and look at him eye-to-eye. "Please understand my concerns. As a Servant, it is my duty to protect and serve you. Should anything happen to you, I will be without a source of mana and thus be eliminated from this competition, sent back to the Throne of Heroes. I would deeply wish that you stay back on the sidelines if you could. For me?"

Ben looked at the beautiful woman who was almost begging him to stay on the sidelines for her sake. He almost wanted to do what she said, almost, but when he saw what Avenger would be facing he decided to go against her wishes, for his sake, "Sorry," he apologized. "I can't do that."

"But Master, Berserker could've killed you," Avenger pleaded.

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Ben. He leaned forward slightly despite protests from his back. "Avenger, believe it or not I've had enemies coming after me since I was ten years old and all because of my ability to transform. I've faced scarier and tougher odds than you can possibly imagine. Sides, it's just not my style to let someone fight alone when I can do something to help. I have the Ultimatrix for a reason and if we're partners I want to help you fight too."

Avenger looked at Ben, gauging what he had told her and somehow found it all to be truthful. He may have just been a boy but there was an aura around him. It was something that would definitely mark him as a hero. If he stuck true to his morals and his beliefs, then she would honestly be surprised if she didn't see him at the Throne of Heroes someday. However, she was bound and determined to make sure he wouldn't be there while she was his Servant.

"I see there is no convincing you at this time Ben," Avenger smiled ruefully, standing up. Finding a seat at the nearby couch, she made herself comfortable. "So what would be our next move?"

"Our next move is to see what we know about the Servants we've seen so far," Ben replied. Reaching into his jacket, he produced the book that Kotomine had given him. "Supposedly this thing updates its information on Servants I've seen. The more I learn about them, the more information appears in the book."

"A useful tool," Avenger nodded. "So it should have information on the Servants we've seen so far."

"Right," Ben nodded as he set the book on the table and opened it to the first entry. On one page was the grinning form of Lancer, posing with his weapon of choice. "Lessee what our buddy Lancer has going for him." Looking to the opposite page of Lancer's portrait, Ben began to read. "True Name: Unknown. Master: Unknown. Statistics: Agility (A), Strength (B) and Endurance (C)."

"What I would come to expect for a Lancer to be in possession of," Avenger nodded. "They are hailed as the most agile of the Classes."

"I'd believe it," Ben nodded. "Okay…Personal Skills: Battle Continuation (A) and Disengage (C). Okay, I assume that the letters are about rank or something like that so I can guess just how tough Lancer is by the ranks. But…what do those Personal Skills mean?"

"Battle Continuation is the ability to continue fighting despite the conditions you are in and Disengage should speak for itself," Avenger replied. She leaned back and tapped her chin with her forefinger. "Since Battle Continuation is high that would mean that Lancer has considerable ability to pace himself and use precise movements, if not already possessing a high endurance. Disengage likewise tells us he has experience in cutting off from battle and being able to get away."

"But he seemed to really not want to when we saw him," Ben added. "Probably explains why it's at a C-rank. He loves to fight and hates to run away unless he absolutely has to."

"Agreed," Avenger nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Uhhh….yeah there is," Ben nodded, turning the page. This time there was a picture of Lancer's red spear along with an explanation about it. "Says here he's got a Noble Phantasm called Gae Bolg," blinking, he looked up at Avenger. "What's a Noble Phantasm?"

"Noble Phantasm are items which are connected to our legends as Heroic Spirits," Avenger explained, her eyes trained on Gae Bolg's portrait. "They can be weapons or special abilities we possess. They can only be activated by channelling our magic into them and calling out their names. Their effects can be devastating and should not be used lightly."

"Yeesh. And he used his on me?" Ben grimaced, looking down at the page. "Explains why he shouted the name out."

"WHAT?" Avenger cried out, her gaze snapping up to Ben. "He used it on you! When!"

"It was before you showed up when I was fighting him. I was in my NRG form when it happened. He was really spooked when it didn't kill me like he wanted," Ben told her. She looked pale. "Is something wrong?"

"You survived a Noble Phantasm!" Avenger shouted in his face. "Especially after he called out its name?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"Ben, a Noble Phantasm's true might is only revealed after its true name is called forth. If Lancer used his on you at full power you would've been dead many times over before you hit the ground!" Were her Master's forms so powerful that even a full-powered Noble Phantasm couldn't scratch him? "Ben, I need to see this NRG form you have."

Blinking, Ben merely nodded before he stood up. Avenger seemed really panicked about Lancer pulling out his Noble Phantasm to use on him. Apparently it was that much of a big deal to use one. Activating the Ultimatrix which had thankfully recharged, he cycled through the forms until he found the armoured image of NRG. Slapping the dial down, the green light surged through the room before Ben vanished and in his place was a Prypiatosian-B. "**NRG!**"

Avenger stood up and moved to examine the new form of her Master. Being covered from head to toe in armour would certainly be an advantage, but against a Noble Phantasm it wouldn't have been that much help. "Ben, how was this form able to withstand Lancer's Noble Phantasm?"

"My armour's made out of what's probably the hardest steel in existence," NRG boasted/explained, tapping his metal frame. "There's nothing natural on this planet that can cut through it and Lancer's Gae Bolg isn't one of them." NRG then grew reflective. "Well, he got a few centimetres in, but that's about as far as he got. The force of the hit took me off my feet, but otherwise didn't do anything else."

"Amazing," Avenger breathed, eyeing the hazard suit NRG wore. She did not feel any special qualities about it, but if what he said about what made it was true, not much would be able to cut it. Still… "It should then tell you just how powerful Lancer's Noble Phantasm is if it was capable of cutting into your armour if it is as strong as you say it is."

"Oh don't I know it," NRG agreed. Slapping the emblem on his chest, he returned to the form of Ben Tennyson. Both he and Avenger took their seats again so to get a look at the book again. "Hey, there's a description to it too. Lessee…Also known as The Spear of Impaling Barbed Death, Gae Bolg holds the ability to manipulate the laws of causality to ensure it strikes the heart of the target. By invoking the name, Gae Bolg has already struck the target, the victim merely has to realize it. Holy cow."

"You see what I mean Master," Avenger nodded. "Lancer's spear is by far no normal weapon if it actually manipulated time and space to strike you. I suspect the only reason he wasn't still holding it when it pierced you is because it got stuck in your armour, surprising him."

"Creepy," Ben gulped, picking up the book. "And this is only the stuff we've seen Lancer being capable of. He probably has a few more ticks up his sleeves."

"And he is only one Servant," Avenger added. "There are still two others."

"Right. Archer next," Ben nodded. Turning the pages, he came across the image of Archer notching an arrow back to fire. Ben merely recalled how the red and black clad Servant had taken aim at him. "True Name: unknown. Master: Unknown. Okay here's some of his stats. Strength (D), Endurance (C), Mana (B), and Agility (C)."

"Sounds a little odd for an Archer," Avenger pondered. "Then again, he has proven skilled at swordsmanship too so that might explain it."

"Sure tried skewering me as Cannonbolt with those swords," Ben nodded as he continued to read into Archer's personal skills. "Says here he's got Magecraft (C-) and Eye of the Mind (B). I can guess Magecraft means he's a magic user beyond what he can do with his Noble Phantasms but Eye of the Mind?"

"That is the ability to calmly analyze any situation he is put into and bring about a greater chance of survival or success," Avenger patiently explained. "It isn't a natural ability but one that is earned. Whoever Archer was in his past life, he was someone who had fought in nearly countless battles to refine the ability to such a degree. That means we cannot take him lightly."

"We were taking him lightly?" asked Ben with a weak grin. Seeing Avenger quirk an eyebrow, Ben immediately looked back to the book. Looking for more information on Archer, he found a picture of the two swords he had used. "Says here those swords he used were Noble Phantasms, Kanshou and Bakuya. Apparently they are some of the highest quality swords since they were made with the finest materials and…human sacrifice? These swords are also supposedly attracted to each other and can even return to their owner of they're lost. Just holding them increases magical and physical resistance."

"Wise weapons for one such as Archer to have in this war," Avenger sighed. "Do we know what they do when their name is invoked?"

"Nothing like that, just effects of the swords in general and what happens when you hold them," Ben replied in the negative.

"I see," Avenger nodded. "Then I suppose all that is left to search for is Berserker."

"Right," Ben gulped. Flipping through the pages, he found a portrait of Berserker looking as savage and powerful as ever. "Okay, his master is Illyasviel von Einzbern but we already knew that. His stats are Strength (A+), Endurance (A), Agility (A), and Mana (A). Man, I knew he was strong but he's ranked the highest out of the three."

"Apparently he truly is the greatest of the Berserkers," Avenger sighed. "He will not be an easy foe to defeat."

"Hm, here's something the others don't have," Ben continued. "Class Skill: Mad Enhancement (B)."

"It's something all of the Berserkers have in common," Avenger sighed. "It boosts up the abilities and strengths of the receiver, but it removes most if not all of their sanity. I pity anyone who is forced to receive it."

"Explains part of why he's so strong," Ben nodded as he continued. "His personal skills are Eye of the Mind (B), Battle Continuation (A), Bravery (A+) and… Divinity (A)?"

"Divinity?" Avenger gasped, growing pale once again. "Divinity is a skill which is related to how closely one is related to the divine. Those with Divine attributes are not easy to take down by any means for they hold the favour of the divinity. For Berserker to hold an A-ranking must mean he is the direct descendant of a divine figure."

"…you mean he's a demi-god?" Ben gawked. "Like Hercules, Perseus, or guys like that?"

"Unfortunately for us, yet," Avenger weakly nodded.

Ben suddenly felt the urge to curl up and groan for hours on end right there. One of the most powerful fighters in the entire war just happened to be related to a god? That just made Ben's day feel that much darker and his optimism behind fighting for the Holy Grail darken by just as much. He supposed out of all of the classes someone like that had to be called for, Berserker actually helped them since if he had any divine powers, he would be too crazy to use them. Of course, god-like strength and endurance sort of made up for that. With a heavy heart, he continued reading.

"Says he has a Noble Phantasm too," he groaned. "It's call God Hand and…OH COME ON!"

"What is it?" Avenger asked hesitatingly. She didn't need more bad news on top of what was already being said.

"It says here God Hand is some kind of blessing or curse from the gods that allows Berserker eleven instant resurrections after he gets killed! That means we've gotta take him down twelve times!" Ben cried in fearful outrage, shaking the book as if trying to erase said ability from it and thus Berserker himself. "Even worse, only A-rank attacks can get the job done and even if they do, his body just remembers what hurt him and gains a resistance to it! That means he's used to Cannonbolt's attacks now, never mind how effective they were! He probably got resistance to Echo-Echo too. How are we supposed to take someone like that down?"

"Ben," Avenger tried to reassure her Master. Truthfully, she understood his despair and displeasure. Berserker was a truly mighty foe and hearing about what his limits were did not make the task of battling him any easier. Hearing that Berserker was kin to divine entities probably didn't help. Still, she could think of a few measures that could help them in future battles with the insane Servant and perhaps sharing them would help ease her Master's distress. "Ben, while the task of defeating Berserker as he is now certainly seems grand, please remember that we are not the only ones fighting him. What's more, the God Hand resistance ability is not so difficult to overcome. You have several different forms do you not? Just how many do you have?"

"Around forty-eight I guess with a lot more to be unlocked," Ben shrugged. "In total, I could get over a million different forms."

"Wha-?" Avenger gaped, but quickly regained herself. She could be shocked about it later. "Then you of all people can be the trump card needed to stop Berserker. If Berserker were to gain any kind of resistance to any of your forms, you can merely switch to another one. Unless another Servant holds an endless amount of weapons or spells, you are the one best suited to defeating him. You have a practically limitless number of fighters ready to go. In my estimate that makes you one of the most dangerous out of all of the participants in the war."

"Well, when you put it that way," Ben shrugged before giving a rueful grin. "It still doesn't make the job any easier in practice."

"Well, nothing worthwhile is ever truly easy," Avenger chuckled.

* * *

**Miyama-Ryudou Shrine**

Caster's lips were in a firm line as she considered what she had seen of the battle between Archer, Berserker, and the new mystery Servant and her even more mysterious Master. She had been scrying to see just what the other Masters had been up to so she could go about her plans and modify them as needed. However, when the eighth Servant appeared she truly began to feel concerned. An eighth Servant was supposed to be impossible, the most being seven. However, the proof was right there as the woman transformed into a silver armoured knight. However, that was nothing compared to the transformation her Master went through when it seemed that he had been assassinated by Archer.

Anyone who saw Caster wouldn't have expected one such as her to be one who was deep in ancient mystical arts. One would have expected someone like her to be an aristocratic lady, acting in the movies, or on the catwalk. She was a woman in the prime of her life, donned from head to toe in black and purple robes which accented her figure and draped over her shoulders. Her face was likewise veiled from the black hood she wore, the only features visible being the lower half of her face. Her skin was fair and features soft despite the aura of malice she exuded and blue hair was visible within the shadow of her cloak. She was a very intelligent woman, but her features were marred with confusion.

"Just what is that boy?" she asked no one. "I have never seen any creatures like those before." The ball creature seemed to be effective enough for Archer, but despite the sudden change from carapace to steel it didn't work as well for Berserker. The small white creature certainly made an impact though. It managed to keep Berserker away for a reasonable amount of time before cloning itself again before making an escape route for itself.

Caster was finding herself at a loss for what the boy was or what his abilities stemmed from. However, she was more than a little interested in finding out and perhaps make that power her own. However, that would take time, preparation, and research if she were to go on that path.

"Best get started then," she commented to herself. She had time and resources at her disposal. Once she had what she needed, then she would strike.

Her wish would be granted.

* * *

**Miyama—Kotomine Church**

"I trust the demonstration was to your approval?" asked Kirei of his guest who was lounging in one of the bench seats in the main altar of the church. The priest himself was going about the duty of setting what candles had been set alight in prayer out so not to accidentally burn the church down. He made note of which ones were lit so he could relight them before he opened the doors again.

"Quite intriguing," the blonde man nodded, leaning back with his feet on the bench in front of him. "I must admit even I have not seen such transformations like the boy's nor the kinds of creatures he was capable of transforming into."

"And those were only two of the several which he has at his beck and call," Kirei added. "He has a wide variety of shapes and powers at his fingertips. They range from flight, physical strength, to manipulating the very elements as if they were play toys. I must admit I see the church's interest in the boy."

"Hmmm," the blonde pondered. "The forms he used did not seem too impressive save for a saving grace or two. Perhaps if I see more of what he is capable of I will deem him worthy of my attention."

"Call me optimistic, but I dare say he will," Kiriei smiled.

"Perhaps." The golden-haired man shrugged. Eyeing the priest, he continued speaking. "I was not aware that Masters were allowed to opt out of being in the War. Attempting to gain another weapon are we?"

"A calculated risk," Kirei shrugged. "Avenger is a wild card that cannot be properly predicted, the boy even more so. Now that he is officially taking part though, we will be able to see his limits as well as those of his Servant. Once we have a clearer picture, we can adjust things to anticipate him."

"Hmm," the golden-haired man pondered again.

* * *

**Miyama—Emiya Estate**

"It was humiliating!" Rin groaned, her head in her arms as she slammed her fist against the table. "That thing beat me in a heartbeat and it didn't even consider me threatening enough to try and kill me!"

"You act like it's a bad thing," Shirou Emiya grimaced as he picked up the dinner plates from the recent meal.

When one looked at Shirou Emiya, they would have seen a pretty average boy who went to Fuyuki's local high school. The only real unique things people would say about him were his red hair and his rather impressive archery skills. However, that was what Shirou's public face revealed. There was much more to the boy than met the eye. He had been a survivor of the Fuyuki Fire which occurred ten years ago and was adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya, being granted the man's name. He knew about magic, but in honesty he wasn't very good at it yet since Kiritsugu never trained him beyond some of the basics and definitely didn't bother to pass on his Mage Crest before he died. Shirou also had a firm (if naïve) goal in mind to someday be the kind of person who could rescue innocents and be the hero of justice like his adopted father once wished to be. So far, he may have found his chance with the Grail War.

Earlier in the day he had stumbled across Rin and her Servant Archer on his way home from school. Rin apparently ditched so to deal with Grail War things and from the green in her face and how unsteady she was on her feet, it didn't go too well. She refused to speak about what had happened and Archer was no help since he vanished into his astral form the moment Shirou showed up. He had to help Rin back to his help and when he offered her something to settle her stomach, she finally gave up the battle and vomited in his bathroom. Several hours later and finally able to get her to fill her stomach without violent reactions and he was getting the story.

"It IS a bad thing Emiya-kun!" Rin snapped, glaring up at her housemate/temporary ally. "It means this thing might be that much more powerful than we expect! Who knows what else he can transform into!"

"Moreso, it is an insult to her skills," a soft yet stern voice added.

The third person at the table was a petite woman who was in a white blouse and blue dress. She sat regally despite being sitting at a simple table in a suburban home. She had crystal blue eyes and pale skin, revealing European roots. She had sparkling blonde hair that would have been long were it not tied up in an elaborate bun at the back of her head. For all of her features, one would have the urge to kneel at her feet and declare loyalty. She had a name, but preferred to keep it a secret and only answered to the designation Saber. She was Shirou's Servant for the Holy Grail War much like Archer was for Rin.

"And then there's the Servant! The Holy Grail War specifically dictates that only SEVEN are summoned but now we have an eighth servant running about with a Master who can turn into monsters!" Rin ranted. "Together they could really be a threat and win the Holy Grail War!"

"A mysterious Servant, and a mysterious Master with transformation abilities," summed up Saber. "Indeed, very troublesome."

"Tohsaka-san," said Shirou carefully, "What did this Master turn into? Can you describe it?"

Rin ordered, "Give me a piece of paper and a pencil!"

Shirou went and got the items she asked for and she quickly drew what the Master's monstrous form looked like. Shirou stared at what she drew, recreating the ball monster she recalled from earlier on paper. It looked vaguely familiar. Then it struck him. He actually saw it before. One of his classmates actually showed them to him and said that there were pictures like this all over the internet. "I recognize that thing!"

"You do?" Rin blinked in surprise. "From where? What is it?"

"Well, not too sure about what it is," Shirou admitted. "But a classmate showed me pictures of this thing and a whole bunch of other monsters. He said they were from America and there were dozens of pictures all over the internet. He's going to flip when he hears there's one in Japan though."

"Well…" Rin admitted, looking thoughtful. "Before he was this monster, he did look like an American boy when Archer took a shot at him. Still, this is a better lead than what I had before coming back. We'll have to ask this friend of yours if he knows anything more about this thing or even where it came from."

"In the meantime," Saber spoke up. "I believe we should search out for this Master. If he truly is such a threat we should deal with him sooner rather than later or else he may become that much more of a threat. We should eliminate him now."

"But…wouldn't it just be simpler to eliminate his Servant?" asked Shirou, again put off by how coldly Saber spoke of killing someone.

"Perhaps, but after today he will no doubt be weaker if he had to face Berserker on top of Archer," the blonde girl replied. "This will be our opportune moment to strike, especially if he is already wounded."

"That's a good point Emiya-kun," Rin nodded. "Better to nip this in the bud now before it blows up in our faces. The War's complicated enough without this thing messing things up."

Shirou glumly looked to the floor and scratched the back of his neck. Did all this bloodshed really have to happen? Sure taking the Servants down was necessary but they were already dead…sort of. Taking down the Masters wasn't really necessary, was it? "…fine. Let's see what we can find."

"Then let's go!" cried Rin. "I want my payback!"

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

As the sun went down, Ben prepared to go out for a night of patrolling with Avenger at his side. The silver knight insisted that since the War was to be kept secret, the combatants would be taking measures to ensure that no one found out about them even while they fought. That meant most of the action would take place at night and usually those involved had some measure to keep people from finding out. It made Ben wonder that if the War was such a deep secret to keep, why hadn't Kotomine told him that part? Shrugging it off, he walked out to the main entryway of the suite where Avenger was shrugging on her jacket, "So any suggestions as to how we should patrol?"

"I would prefer we do it on foot," Avenger replied, checking her pocket for her sunglasses, which she slipped away earlier. "Going along rooftops may be quicker, but we would be much more of an open target there for any other Master who would be nearby and this draw the attention of their Servants."

"Right," Ben nodded as he pulled on his shoes while Avenger waited patiently. He found himself agreeing with the older woman. He had enough of being an assassination target and was in no mood to be in such a position again, especially with Archer and Assassin out there. "So while we're out, besides looking for anything that's sticking out or catches our attention, should there be anything else we should be doing while we're in the middle of this Grail mess?"

Avenger didn't even need a moment to think and she quickly and bluntly made her answer, "I think the best course of action is to discover the identity of the other Masters. Usually the Servants will have their Masters nearby so should we find a Servant, we will find the one who controls him."

"And then?" Ben asked cautiously.

"We strike them down before they strike us down," Avenger finished.

"WHAT?" Ben cried, standing ramrod straight. "Uh-uh! No way! We are not going to hunt down the Masters!"

"But Ben, it is the easiest solution to eliminating the other Servants," Avenger argued.

"I don't care if it's easy, it doesn't mean its right!" Ben cried. "The Servants are in the thick of battle so they're fair game since they're the ones putting their lives on the line. Unless the Masters are in the thick of it like me or that girl in red were, then they aren't targets. Even then, we aren't going to kill them, understand?"

"Ben…" Avenger sighed.

"Don't make me use one of the Command marks," Ben frowned.

"*sigh* yes Ben," Avenger nodded. Truly, she had a most difficult Master, but she had to admire the steel within him. "Then shall we go?"

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "So should we check out the Miyama district first? It's more spacious with plenty of empty spaces to fight in. If the Servants are fighting each other, it'll be out there."

"A good idea," Avenger agreed.

* * *

**Miyama—Streets**

Shirou and Saber were walking down the streets, dressed rather plainly. Well, Saber would probably never be plain no matter how hard she tried considering her beauty. Even her simple blouse and skirt combination made her appear majestic. The blonde was as professional as ever, keeping an eye out for threats or even anything remotely out of the ordinary. Shirou admitted that if anything, she seemed more tense than usual. Perhaps the mention of a shape-shifting monster really had rattled her at least a little. Maybe she was being professionally cautious or something really had been bothering her about it. Shirou would be the first to admit that he didn't know his Saber all that well, which she preferred.

Rin had volunteered to search the Shinto district with Archer. Her reasoning was that since the ball monster looked like an American boy first, he may be using one of the hotels in that district as a place to stay during the War. The Tohsaka heiress was as gung-ho as Shirou had ever seen her before. While she apparently hadn't been hurt by that ball monster, she was horribly embarrassed by how she was taken out and if he learned anything about Rin it was that she could be vindictive when she wanted to be.

"Shirou, can you remember anything else that your classmate said about this strange creature?" asked Saber, keeping her eyes out for trouble.

"Well, I admit I wasn't paying too much attention since I figured it was a hoax or something," Shirou sighed rubbing his neck. "But I think that whatever this thing is, it can change into a lot more than just a monster that can roll into a ball. I remember seeing pictures of plant monster that could throw fire, a blue moth man, a small white thing, even a dinosaur."

"Hmmm," Saber frowned.

Saber didn't comment any further than that, preferring to keep her concentration on her surroundings. The Master and Servant pair continued on their patrol, looking for any clue of the shape-shifting Master or the other Servants and their Masters. So far, they were receiving a big fat nothing from Saber's senses and from Shirou's Command Mantras. For his part, Shirou was glad that things were peaceful for the time being. He hated the thought of people being in danger for something like this War but people like Lancer and his Master sure didn't care either way. People like them were why Shirou got involved in the first place, to stop them from hurting even more people. No action meant that no one was being hurt and that was always a good thing in Shirou's mind.

Still, the night and the patrol wore on with nothing immediately popping into sight and Shirou was beginning to feel that they should call it a night. Seeing his school coming up as they walked just drove that point home for him. Although Rin would be able to skip out of school so to keep opponents guessing as to her movements, Shirou didn't have the luxury of high grades and since the Grail War only went on for a short time, even if he lost but survived he would be seriously behind his schoolwork should he follow the girl's example.

Trying to remember if he had any homework to do or not as they walked past the gates, Shirou suddenly felt the Command Mantra on his hand heat up in response to a Servant being nearby. That quickly brought Shirou out of his thoughts as he began looking in all directions to see where the Servant he was picking up was coming from. Saber on the other hand was already dashing towards the school, her sword at the ready, "Shirou, stay here!"

"Saber!" Shirou cried, attempting to run after his Servant.

* * *

**Miyama—Homurabara High School**

During the day, Shinji Matou was considered the charismatic, handsome, and well-liked vice-president of the archery club. He was admittedly a little narcissistic, but otherwise a good student, person, and archer which was perfect for the club. He was of average build with a handsome face and wave blue hair which he kept short. He easily attracted people and seemed to be an all around average and likable person.

That was his public face though.

At home, Shinji was cruel, spiteful, abusive, and incredibly jealous of pretty much everyone around him. Coming from a long line of magi, Shinji was the lone heir and thus expected to be treated practically like royalty and the young master of his household. However, the Matou family had dwindling magical bloodlines and as such Shinji had absolutely no aptitude for magic at all, making him useless in the eyes of his grandfather. Zouken Matou, Shinji's grandfather paid more attention to Shinji's adopted sister who had huge stores of magic and even inherited talent in using it from whoever her parents were. That incensed Shinji, making him treat his adopted sister like crap, beating her up and mentally torturing her in retaliation for taking away what he felt was his birthright and thunder. As they got older, Sakura entered what could be called 'Battered Wife Syndrome' and became very subservient to her brother. Shinji on the other hand began taking liberties with his sister as his hormones kicked in. After all, she wasn't his sister by blood so what did it matter? Of course, Zouken didn't care what his grandchildren did since Shinji was all but useless while Sakura was made subservient and that was all he needed.

Of course, Shinji's teetering world of jealousy and anger didn't stop with Sakura. It also stemmed over to his classmate Shirou, the one person who seemed to incense Shinji all the more but at the same time actually make him feel regret. Shirou was the kind of person Shinji wanted to be, yet at the same time reminded him of everything that he was not. Those reminders just pissed Shinji off more despite being unable to unleash that anger beyond turning it onto his sister Sakura. Worse yet, Sakura would go out of her way to see Shirou everyday by going to his house and that just pissed off Shinji even more. The Matou boy was pretty sure Shirou knew he battered his sister around but he also knew that Sakura was too meek and weak-willed to admit it and seek him for help. Still, the times when Shirou and Shinji would talk to each other would be tense and fuelling Shinji's paranoia even more. If it were exposed what he was doing to his sister, it would shame the Matou family Zouken especially since he allowed it to happen and he would kill Shinji for bringing further shame to his family.

Shinji's already jealousy and rage induced treatment of his sister went up another unfortunate notch when their grandfather used her to enact a Summoning for the Holy Grail War. It was another message stating that Shinji was useless to his family while Sakura was more the treasure. That instant made a double stab to his mind when his sister managed to summon Rider to the world. Enraged, and all but consumed with proving his worth to his family he bullied his sister into forfeiting command of Rider to him through a Book of False Attendant, a magic item which contained her Command Spells which forced Rider to his will. Again, Zouken could care less so long as a Matou won the Grail for him so he allowed it to happen.

At this point in time, Shinji was waiting impatiently as Rider continued the work at the archery range which had been going on across the school, "How much longer is this going to take?"

"Not much longer…Master," a soft feminine voice replied.

Kneeling in the middle of the archery range and apparently drawing something in her own blood was Shinji's Servant Rider. She was a sensuous woman who seemed to personify everything one wished to see in a woman. She wore a black strapless dress which only reached to her thighs and had a purple lining at the top. Her arms were covered in similar black material which had purple straps at the top, the wrists, and across her biceps. Her feet were protected by black boots which bore the same style. She also had long purple hair which ran past her hips and was draped across the ground as she worked on her blood drawing. Oddly enough, she wore a purple blindfold over her eyes which had metal clips connecting it above her nose accented by a red glyph which rested on her forehead. She seemed like such a serene woman, but underneath she was a Heroic Spirit and was not to be treated lightly.

The reason Shinji and Rider were at the boy's high school so late was because of a plan Shinji was going to implement that would ensure Rider would have the most power out of all of the Servants in the War. Rider was forced to confess that she had a Noble Phantasm called Blood Fort Andromeda which would allow her to transform all humans trapped within it into energy for her to use…among other remains such as blood and whatnot. Since Shinji was incapable of providing prana for Rider to use, she would have to set it up. When the opportunity arose, he would have her activate it and harvest the energy she would need. Ideally, Shinji would want some other Servants and Masters to be caught in the Fort when it activated, but for the sake of the Grail he was more than willing to sacrifice all of his schoolmates if he had to. Zouken would do the same so he would too.

"Hurry it up then!" Shinji snapped at his Servant. He was taking a big enough risk just by being out here with his Servant in order to make sure the pieces for Blood Fort Andromeda would be put into place. Shirou Emiya already knew he was the Master of Rider and that in turn got Tohsaka probably knowing what Rider was up to. The pair had spent the better part of a day destroying the seals for it. Shinji managed to convince his old friend that it was just part of a protective field, but he knew Rin probably wouldn't fall for it. He fed them the information about Ryudou temple, but they hadn't gone for it yet and that just made him tense. There was a chance that Rin saw through his subterfuge immediately and decided to keep focusing on Rider for the moment.

Turning away from his Servant impatiently, Shinji suddenly felt the Book of False Attendant begin to grow warm.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ben and Avenger were on patrol, looking for any Masters or Servants, especially Servants. While Avenger's earlier suggestion was strategically sound, it went against Ben's code as a hero and that was one code he wasn't going to break ever again. The last time he did he'd hunted Kevin down with a vengeance and even hurt his cousin Gwen when she got in his way. Despite everything turning out alright, Ben knew that even if he had put Kevin down the guilt would eat him up as he'd killed someone he considered as the brother he never had. Servants, however, was another story entirely. They were the summoned spirits of Epic Heroes from long ago and thus technically dead. Well, not like zombies. They were revived but in the form of Servants and as such if they died again they would return to the Throne of Heroes. It was like sending his enemies to the Null Void.

Thinking about the Throne of Heroes made Ben look to Avenger and wonder who she was in life before all this Holy Grail War stuff started up. What kind of hero was she? He could ask but would that be alright? She seemed to want to keep the information confidential. After all, if her true name was revealed that would give away her weaknesses since she was an Epic Hero and thus her exploits would be in the history books. That kind of information was available to anyone who knew where to look for it so it wasn't that much of a chore to find it. Apparently the belief held true; names have power…or in this case, weaknesses.

Turning a corner with an eye on their surroundings, Ben and Avenger were suddenly treated to a loud rumbling noise and dust coming up into the air from somewhere in the distance. Ben and Avenger instantly knew that something was up and that it had to be Servants. Ben immediately started running for the source, since it was easily within running distance. Avenger though, was already moving into her battle mentality. In a flash of light, she was donned in her silver armour once again and leaping to the rooftops to take the straight route.

"Hey! Wait! Avenger!" Ben cried, continuing his pace. Cursing mentally, he tried to pour on the speed so he could get there sooner while preserving the Ultimatrix power until he needed it. He may have only met Avenger a day ago, but he didn't have much reason to distrust her yet; concerned for her actions maybe, but not to distrust her yet. If there was trouble, she would be able to at least handle herself and whoever else was there until he showed up.

It didn't mean he had to like not turning into Jetray so to get her in a heartbeat. However, remembering how tough Berserker was he didn't want to time out at the worst possible moment like in some other battles. These Servants were legendary heroes hardened by the wars humanity had gone through over the history of the Earth. They would not hesitate to take advantage of a moment of weakness.

He just hoped Avenger wouldn't be over her head.

* * *

**Homurabara Archery Range**

Saber and Rider clashed against one another, creating severe damage as their attacks missed while their weapons created heavy impacts which would alert anybody as to what was going on. Rider was armed with a set of chains with spikes on the end while Saber had her sword with the gold and blue hilt. The blonde girl was donned in a blue and white outfit that looked like a blouse and dress merged together with puffy shoulders with gold accents. Her chest was covered with solid armour which was matched by armour on the sides of her dress. Her arms and legs were covered by similar armour, but it was harder to tell with her legs thanks to her dress and the frills on the edge. As feminine and frilly as the battle outfit was, it was truthfully very functional.

Despite how flimsy Rider's weapon truly seemed, it held up well against Saber's weapon. Sparks flew from each impact before Rider would redirect the blow before attempting to stab her with the spikes at either end. Saber's reflexes helped protect her from the speedy stabs at the various angles she would be able to strike at. Saber had to admit that her purple-haired opponent was skilled and would be difficult to defeat. If she invoked her Noble Phantasms then the fight would become that much more difficult and riskier to her continued existence. However, Saber had already invoked one of her own, Invisible Air, allowing her sword to become invisible to the naked eye thanks to the layers of soundless whirlwinds surrounding it. It gave her an advantage over the mysterious Rider in terms of attack, but since she seemed not to be reliant on her eyes she may render that advantage moot.

Panting as he ran to the corner, arriving at the school, Shirou glimpsed to where the pair were and saw them fighting. Granted the Servants were supposed to be fighting so they could win the Holy Grail, but just going out and attacking them on sight wasn't the way Shirou wanted to go about the task. Besides, Shirou knew that Rider was Shinji's Servant and he didn't want to antagonize his old friend unless he could help it. Besides, he was still suspicious about the so-called defensive barriers which Shinji had Rider place all over the school. Whenever he got close enough to Rider, he got a bad feeling that seemed to waft off of her. It was something different than the things he felt coming from Saber, Lancer, and Berserker. Something much darker than anything the others possessed. It was that strange aura that made Shirou fear for Saber's safety. She had already been hurt once fighting off Berserker for his sake. He wouldn't let her suffer at Rider's hands doing the same.

Unlike Shirou who was keeping a diligent eye out for threats to his Servant and looking for a way to intervene, Shinji was cowering behind a wall so to keep out of sight so no one would see him and thus make him a target. He knew how he stacked up in physical ability and was thus way too easy to kill for the likes of the Servants. While Shinji knew Shirou was too much of a stand-up guy to just let anyone get killed, the Matou boy could guess that Saber had no such qualms since he was a Master and likely had some magic power on their side. So his best option would be to hide out and sneak away when he could. Of course, he did hope Rider would be able to take down Saber, but just in case he would look for a way to escape since the purple-haired woman was smart enough to know when to pull back.

Then both the Book of False Attendant and Shirou's Command Mantras began to grow warm again.

"Huh?" the redhead blinked, looking to see the markings symbolizing his contract begin to glow brighter than before. Gasping, he turned to see where Saber was fighting Rider. "Saber! Another Servant is coming!"

"Tsk!" the blonde grimace as her invisible blade clashed against Rider's chains. Not even a second after Shirou announced it her, Saber felt the Servant in question approaching and judging by how Rider began to look confused, she could feel it too. Both Servants stopped struggling for a moment before turning their eyes towards the school building. High above it, silhouetted by the moon, a figure with a sword was descending upon them from above with a sword raised for an overhead strike.

"HERRRAAAAAAAGH!"

The figure slashed at Saber and Rider once they were close enough, but dust from the impact shrouded Shirou and Shinji's views of the sight. From their respective sides, Rider and Saber leaped backwards from the dust. Both were clearly confused, not knowing who this new Servant was since they knew what the remaining Servants looked like although Saber had a sneaking suspicion. Allowing the dust to clear, the two Servants and their Masters witnessed the form of Avenger, standing ready for a fight with the moon reflecting off of her armour.

"Another Saber?" asked Rider, clearly confused.

"Is this…?" Shirou blinked.

"Who are you?" asked Saber.

The silver knight glared at Saber, dark intent quite visible through her eyes, "I am Servant Avenger." Saber could tell that this Avenger definitely did not like her. Why that was, Saber really didn't know and she honestly didn't care all that much. Instead, she found yet another foe that she would have to go up against in order to earn the Holy Grail.

Avenger glanced at Rider for only a moment before she turned to gaze at Saber again, readying her blade. Saber knew a challenge when one was pointed at her. Obviously this new knight saw her as the greater threat when compared to Rider. Raising her own invisible blade, the two female knights stared down at one another. A gust of wind passed through the shredded archery range before both knights let out battle cries and lunged at one another. Even though her opponent's blade was invisible, Avenger could estimate an approximate length and defend herself accordingly. Sparks erupted as Avenger's guess proved correct and Saber's weapon was blocked. Both knights quickly began putting all their skill into their strikes, attempting to bring one another down.

Meanwhile, Rider slinked back, watching the two Servants combat one another in a duel which would not have been out of place in the medieval era. She had no idea who this silver knight was, but they didn't fit in as one of the seven Servants that she knew of. Something was not right here. There were not supposed to be two Sabers so this silver knight was a Class which she did not know about. In this war, the unknown was dangerous.

"Rider, stop gawking!" Shinji snapped from his hiding place, catching Rider's attention. "They're both distracted! Take them both out at the same time!"

Rider sighed, knowing that any attempt she made probably would not work but she would have to try lest her Master get into his moods again. There wasn't much he could do to her, but to her true Master… She cringed at the thought. Seeing a good angle, Rider leaped to a spot which was partially obscured by shadows thanks to the angle of the moon extending the shadow of the school. Raising her weapons, she prepared to take the shot. She'd only get one chance at this before she would have to flee when one or both knights would attack her.

One shot. Quick and easy.

* * *

Ben panted as he reached Homurabara High School. A student athlete he may have been, but he played goalie and that meant that he didn't do as much running as the other players despite equal training. Hearing the action and sounds of metal against metal out behind, Ben grit his teeth and kept running. He dashed around corners and tried not to think about just how bad a fight between two Epic Heroes could be but the images wouldn't leave his mind. It would be like…Captain Nemesis vs. Kangaroo Commander…before they turned evil and fell from grace in Ben's eyes. Turning around another corner, Ben could see that the fighting was happening at an archery range where Avenger was fighting a blonde girl in blue who was apparently holding an invisible sword. In front of him was a boy in a blue and white shirt with jeans and red hair, obviously the blue girl's Master. Daring to sneak closer in case the boy was on the less than caring side, Ben noticed something in one of the shadows cast by the buildings. It was hard to notice even with the purple in it, but with everyone distracted by the fight, it wasn't difficult do. Ben could see that whoever it was, was aiming at both Avenger and the Servant with large spikes attached to chains.

"Avenger!" Ben cried, dashing towards the fight and catching the attention of the boy in front of him. Ignoring the boy, Ben ran past him towards the fight as he reached for the Ultimatrix. Quickly activating it, he didn't bother checking which alien popped up first before slapping down on the dial. The green energy came out quickly, beginning the change to his DNA. His entire body grew larger and taller before his skin turned pitch black. From there, red carapace grew over his torso, arms, shoulders, waist, and legs. It looked more like a suit of armour rather than natural protection but it functioned just as well. His head was quickly covered in the same substance, revealing a crab like face which was red on the top and gray on the bottom with a slightly open section for breathing, talking, and eating while the upper half sported a pair of green eyes. From his back, a hood of similar carapace stretched up before the familiar green hourglass symbol appeared on his chest to complete the change.

"**Water Hazard!**" the alien called out when the change was finished. Eyeing the purple and black clad woman, he raised his arms and pointed his palms at her revealing round holes. As the target was set, Water Hazard unleashed twin torrents of highly pressurized water which shot like geysers. The blasts were quick and powerful, smashing straight into the would-be assassin and knocking her clean off her feet and several feet away, gurgling from the water in her face as she went.

"By the Grail…" Saber gasped, actually stunned by the instant transformation and sudden attack.

"Holy cow!" Shirou gaped.

"Master," Avenger sighed.

Water Hazard didn't stop his offensive though. He took a running leap to fly through the air and aim a gravity enhanced punch at the downed and soggy woman before she could recover. It was pretty obvious that she was a Servant. More than that, she tried to kill his own Servant, his friend. He would not let anyone get away with that!

Rider rolled away from the punch which had enough force to crack the ground and rolled up to her feet. Yet another unknown had entered the fight. She gripped her chain as she stared down her new opponent. So much for quick and easy.

Shinji was chewing on his fingernails as he witnessed the kid in green transform into some kind of red-armored monster with water powers. It didn't sit well with him at all and he began to tremble.

Water Hazard glanced at Avenger's opponent. Taking a glance at the blonde's face, he could've sworn that she and Avenger were twins despite the unlikely chances of such things. Still, with their armour and similar fighting style, anyone would make that mistake. Judging by the blue Servant's appearance, she could be of the Saber Class. Of course, Archer fought with swords too so obviously the Classes weren't limited to weapons which one would stereotype them as having.

Avenger sighed as her Master recklessly came to her aid again. She was worried of course, but she allowed herself to have some faith in his abilities. Her Master possessed something no other Master could have so she didn't need to fear much. Still, he needed to be careful. Rider was different from Berserker and unlike the monstrous brute had speed and agility as well as a dangerous weapon and Noble Phantasms that she could invoke. She could think, plan, strategize, and take note of strengths and weaknesses. Avenger wanted to go and assist him, but with her hands full with Saber she didn't have that option.

Keeping an eye on Saber, the two female knights lunged and clashed against each other once again in a hail of sparks. Both of them grit their teeth, trying to overpower one another. However, Saber's mind and concern were only partially on her silver-clad opponent. Part of her mind was likewise on the strange creature which had taken up combat with Rider. If she did manage to overcome Avenger she may have to take on her Master.

Knowing that Avenger was fine for the moment, Water Hazard turned his attention fully to the purple-haired Rider. So far there hadn't been any more assaults since his initial attack to get the thought of assassination out of her mind. They had a moment of peace at first so perhaps he could squeeze out some information if only for that book, "So which Class are you? Assassin? Caster?"

"Rider," the woman answered, making Water Hazard spine's shiver. Even her voice sounded sensual like everything else about her was shaping up to be. Good thing Water Hazard had water running inside his body or else he may have actually gotten distracted.

"Rider," the pseudo-Orishan nodded. "Any hopes that I can convince you to just give up now, go back to the Throne of Heroes, and just avoid a whole lot of pain and bloodshed?"

"No," the purple-haired beauty denied, shaking her head. "While I have no particular desire for the Grail, and I don't particularly like the one I call Master at the moment, there is too much riding on me being here and winning the war to simply give up now."

Water Hazard sighed at the response, "They never take the easy way," steeling himself, he narrowed his eyes at the blindfolded Servant. "Then I hope you don't hold this fight against me." He then charged, aiming another one of his powerful punches at her pretty face.

"Only if you don't hold it against me," Rider responded as she prepared for battle. Water Hazard was on her in a moment with a powerful punch, but she swiftly avoided it before retaliating with her chains. The sharpened spikes impacted against the alien's carapace but sparked off as if they had hit steel. Rider's eyebrow quirked in interest as she landed on her feet again, recalling her weapons.

Shinji grimaced as she saw Rider facing the straight red-armoured creature. He never actually prepared for this. He did prepare to face Masters and Servants but this thing completely threw his plans out the window. Now it seemed like a wonderful time to try and cut his losses and run before something bad, namely risk to his life happened. The problem was how he was supposed to alert Rider without getting that red thing to notice him.

Water Hazard unleashed several high-pressured jets of water at Rider who speedily avoided them with her agility, stunning Water Hazard. However, he wasn't worried at all. He had faced fast opponents before and won. Still, he needed to make her quit and if she didn't then he had no other choice but to send her back to the Throne by force. Steeling his resolve, Water Hazard charged at Rider once again to try and finish the battle before the Ultimatrix timed out.

Saber and Avenger clashed against each other still, making sparks fly from their personal blades striking one another. From where Shirou was standing, it was pretty obvious that neither of them were going to give up. Avenger knew she was at a disadvantage since she couldn't tell how long Saber's sword was and one misstep or overestimation could very well end up spelling the end for her. The silver knight could easily tell that Saber was an expert with her weapon in every definition of the word.

"Just what manner of creature is your Master?" Saber demanded with the authority like a king, making Avenger remember some of the royal encounters in her life.

"A hero in the making," the silver knight answered.

Saber seemed confused by the answer, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she just seemed to raise her blade again for another charge. Avenger decided that she had to take the offensive so to keep Saber on her guard and prevent her from using the invisible sword to her advantage. Not waiting for Saber to make the first move, Avenger charged forward with her own blade raised. Avenger crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat. Saber was just as quick to react and defend herself from the attack, more sparks signalling the blades impact against one another. As Saber defended though, she suddenly twisted her grip and Avenger suddenly felt an impact against her head. She even stumbled from the blow, the force actually knocking her helmet off. Shaking her head to try and get the ringing noise out of her ears, she quickly turned back to face Saber…

…who had turned pale and was openly gaping.

"Mordred?" she gasped out.

Avenger wasn't too sure why Saber had called her such a strange name, but it seemed that the mere thought of this 'Mordred' was throwing Saber off of her game. It seemed that the fates were working in her favour that night. Gripping her blade, Avenger charged on the attack once again, this time Saber being completely on the defensive with her eyes obviously not on the battle. She was able to defend herself on reflex, but it was clear that something was gnawing away at her.

For her own part, Saber was suffering flashbacks from her life with the face that was staring her down. Mordred, the Homunculus which was created by her half-sister Morganna in efforts of ursurping the throne from the blonde. Morganna actually charmed Saber into falling in love with her and used the blonde's own seed to cultivate the creation of alchemy within her own body. Mordred served faithfully and loyally for years, sitting at the round table itself. However, after Saber discovered what Morganna had done, she banished the witch from her kingdom. Mordred did not take that well and grew hateful to her and rose an army to dethrone Saber, resulting in the war which ultimately ended Saber's life, causing her to make her vow with the Earth so to grant her wish.

Now it was like the past was catching up to her yet again.

"Saber!" Shirou cried, watching his Servant being put solely on the defensive by the silver knight which oddly looked so much like her. Something was breaking his Servant's concentration and it was going to cost her if it kept up. "Saber, snap out of it!"

"Hyah! Hah! Hoh!" Avenger cried as each of her slashes collided with the invisible sword in Saber's hands. Even with the blue-clad blonde distracted as she was, breaking through her defence was proving difficult. She used her sword by instinct and it was that same instinct which was helping her stay alive. Unleashing an underhand swing, Avenger knocked Saber's sword up, leaving her chest exposed to assault. Rearing back her weapon, Avenger prepared to strike.

"SABER!" Shirou shouted loudly, beginning to run towards the battle If he could just make it in time…!

The rather loud cry from any one person made Saber blink and her senses snap back to the present. That's right, she wasn't the King of a so-called mythic kingdom in this place. She was Servant Saber, a fighter in the Holy Grail War. She was fighting to gain access to the Holy Grail! With it, she would be able to make her wish come true! She would be able to spare Lancelot, Guinevere, Mordred, and so many others their undeserved suffering with her wish! She could afford to lose again! Gripping her sword tightly, the Invisible Air was displaced in a whirlwind before the blade of the blue-and-gold-hilted sword began to shine with a divine light.

"_Ex-_" Saber began, obviously invoking the name of her Noble Phantasm.

Avenger could tell what Saber was doing and that she was in no position to dodge. If she was going to have any hope of surviving, she was going to have to try and match Saber force to force. Gripping her own sword, Avenger channelled her own magic into it, making the blade shine a moonlight silver, "_Portuer de…_"

"_-calibur!_"

"_Lumiere!_"

What one would have expected to come next was a colossal clash between the two Servants and their respective magical blades in what would surely have been attacks that would have drained them dry in terms of mana. In normal circumstances that is what would have occurred, but instead what happened was something intervened. This something came in the form of a twisting red tornado of power which impacted against the space between Saber and Avenger. What naturally came next was a violent explosion which blew out several windows of the nearby school and whatever other buildings were close by. Shirou was knocked flat on his back while Shinji cowered in his hiding place. Water Hazard and Rider both were stunned at the massive explosion but stayed on their feet, managing to withstand the force behind the blast. The light died down, but the sheer amount of smoke and dust in the air made it seem like a volcano went off only without the heat or lava.

"Hmm," Rider frowned.

"Oh my god," Water Hazard gaped. "Avenger!" He couldn't see her. Was she alright? He hoped she was alright. Damn it, if he could only see her! There was so much smoke in the way for him to tell. He then decided to clear the smoke away the only way he could and pressed the Ultimatrix to assume another form. Water Hazard vanished into green light and re-emerged as a bipedal turtle with short legs and long arms shaped like flippers. A large green shell rested on his back while his front was spotted with holes in a circular pattern with a triangular head coming out of the top hole. In the centre was the ever-present Ultimatrix marking.

"**Terraspin!**" the turtle-like alien called out in a deep voice, completely ignoring Rider now. Not wasting a moment, he retracted his head into his shell and connected his feet together to form a third flipper. Keeping aloft because of air being shot out of the bottom end of the shell on his back, Terraspn's three flipper-like appendages began to spin at an incredible rate much like a giant fan. At the same time, powerful gusts of wind blew from the holes in his chest, all of it aimed at the smoke resulting from the sneak attack which had been aimed at the two knights. The smoke was blown away in a heartbeat, revealing both Avenger and Saber.

Both were on the ground and definitely hurting, if not weakened by attempting to use their Noble Phantasms. Saber was panting on the ground, holding herself up by her sword. The centre of her chest armour was dented as if something had attempted to pierce straight through it. The dent was deep and no doubt the blue-clad girl was dealing with cracked if not broken chest bones. The blood tricking from her mouth was a sure indication of some internal damage. Avenger wasn't much better as a diagonal dent was quite evident in her own body protection and it was slightly red, meaning that it was hot along with doing the same damage the central dent on Saber may have done. Avenger was barely conscious and was lying on the ground with her own sword in hand, panting softly.

"AVENGER!" Terraspin cried in fear. Dashing over to the down knight (as well as a giant turtle could,) he helped sit her up and saw that she was still alive. Grabbing the collar of the front of her armour, Terraspin ripped it off and tossed it aside to prevent the heated dent from burning her or constrict her breathing. "Avenger, speak to me!"

"Uhhh…B…Ben…" the semi-conscious blonde whispered.

"That's it; we're getting you out of here!" Terraspin frowned before he tapped the symbol on his chest again. Again a green flash came about, bringing a new alien. This time, the alien was a blue mothman which was black save for the blue segments of natural body armour which was growing on the body. It had two toes on its feet and three fingers with a thumb. Its head sported long blue feather-like antennae, large green eyes, and a mouth which looked like a grille of some sort. The final bit was the large pair of moth-like wings which were attached to its back. "**Big Chill!**" Picking up Avenger in bridal style, the psuedo-Necrofriggian took off into the skies, well out of range of both Servants on the ground.

"Tsk!" Saber grimaced, watching the pair fly away. Truthfully she was glad that Avenger's Master cared more for her health than for winning. It reminded her of Shirou. Daring to look to where Rider had been, she saw that the purple-haired woman had vanished, no doubt not wanting to get involved with either of the two Servants or the strange Master. It was a lucky break considering the events of the night.

"Saber!" Shirou cried, dashing over to his Servant. "Are you all right?"

"I will live," Saber grimaced under the pain she was feeling. Shirou could immediately guess how bad said pain was and gingerly hefted his Saber's arm over his shoulder so to help support her as they stood up. Her eyes were trained on the world around her, trying to figure out where the strange attack had come from.

Shirou likewise wanted to figure out where the silent attacker had been as he helped Saber walk. As he was moving though, he looked up to the roof of the school and for the briefest of seconds, witnessed someone standing on the roof holding something which had red lines running down its length. Shirou gaped at the sight and blinked, but the figure was gone just as quickly.

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

Once reaching home, Big Chill put Avenger on the bed and quickly returned to human form and frantically started to open up his First Aid Kit. He needed to clean the wounds and bandage her up! It was lucky that he remembered to pack a First Aid Kit with him. Taking what he thought he would need, Ben returned to Avenger's room. Knowing the wound was on her chest, Ben tried to find an opening in her chainmail. He quickly found it and gently pulled it up to find a white tunic underneath which was slightly blackened by the heated armour which had been pressed up against her by Saber's attack. Pulling up the tunic Ben found Avenger's bound breasts and angry red markings matching the dents in her armour. Glad that there weren't any bleeding wounds, Ben went back to the kitchen before taking a complementary tablecloth and filled it from ice from the freezer, making a cold pack. Returning to Avenger's room, he pressed the covered ice against the burn on her shoulder, it being larger.

"Nnn!" Avenger grimaced.

"Sorry," Ben grimaced. "This burn looks light. Looks like all of that armour managed to protect you from the worst of it."

"And my…Noble Phantasm," Avenger whispered.

"That was crazy out there," Ben sighed, keeping an eye on the cold pack. "Glad you're still in one piece."

"Not from Saber's…or that assassin's…lack of trying…" Avenger grimaced. "Saber's sword…called it…Excalibur."

"Excalibur? Are you sure?" Ben inquired.

"Yes…"

"That's supposed to be the legendary sword of King Arthur," stated Ben. The legend of King Arthur was known far and wide. Everyone knew of the story of how a simple squire turned out to be the unknown son of the previous king, raised in secret by order of Merlin so to know chivalry and right. When his lineage was discovered, he had pulled an enchanted sword called Caliburn from a stone and proven his right to rule. Later the sword was broken in a battle and was replaced by the magic sword Excalibur which was defined as THE magic sword in all stories. Well, some people argued that it was Excalibur that was pulled from the stone.

"But it doesn't make sense," Ben frowned, checking to see if the ice had melted to a point where it was making the bed wet rather than cooling a burn. "Excalibur belonged to King Arthur and he was a man. Saber is definitely a woman. How'd she get her hands on it?"

"Did this…King Arthur sire… any children?" asked Avenger, curious despite her weakness.

"Just one that I know of. A guy called Mordred," Ben answered. "He hated his father and tried to steal his kingdom from him. I think the story goes Arthur killed Mordred and got mortally wounded himself. Before he died, his body was sent to Avalon where he would sleep and recover until the world needed him again."

"Mordred…" Avenger pondered. "Saber called me…by that name. Perhaps she…mistook me…for this Mordred…"

"She knew about Mordred?" Ben blinked. "Well, either way we've gotten a huge clue into who Saber really is. Someone from the King Arthur legends and I can only think of two women who fit into that space. While you're resting I'll see if I can't get some research done and maybe pin down a name."

* * *

**Miyama—Emiya Estate**

Meanwhile, Shirou was tending to Saber's wounds the same way Ben was doing for Avenger. Both were in the living room and Saber was down to near toplessness much to Shirou's embarrassment. Thankfully she wore undergarments with her battle outfit and saved Shirou from total mortification. As Shirou went about his work, Saber began to ask, "Shirou, what was that thing that was Avenger's Master? A sort of shapeshifter?"

"Well, you could call it that," said Shirou. "One of my classmates told me about him but I don't exactly remember the name. I definitely know my friend at school will be able to tell me something though. I recognized that blue moth man from one of his pictures."

"Good," Saber nodded. Despite her insistence that her prana would help her recover her wounds, Shirou insisted on treating them with what medical facilities he had available to him. It was a rather good idea since Shirou's magic reserves were minimal to begin with and she wouldn't be able to get much to maintain herself. Luckily, her own reserves were rather large. She didn't want to admit it, but she was touched that Shirou was going the extra mile for her. Cooking, tending to her wounds, helping her adjust, it went to show that he was a very kind person. He was remarkably different from his adopted father who was her Master in the Fourth Grail War. She recalled Kiritsugu Emiya as a cold man who saw and treated her as a weapon, a viewpoint she agreed with but something Shirou couldn't stand. It felt…nice.

As Shirou examined her for any further cuts or bruises, Rin suddenly just stormed into the room without announcing herself. As she entered, her eyes bulged out as her angle showed Shirou sitting behind Saber without her blouse on and her undergarments were being blocked from view by Shirou's body. The whole scene looked like Saber was stripping for Shirou and the redhead was molesting the blonde woman to his own delight.

"Uhhh," Shirou blushed, looking at the ponytailed girl.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?" Rin screamed out, totally enraged.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Shirou denied.

"Shirou is merely tending to my wounds," Saber defended, eyes narrowed at Rin for interrupting such a tender moment.

"Oh, OK then," Rin calmed down much to Shirou's relief. Her eyes then became wide as the comment came to her. "What? Wounds?" She asked, "What happened?"

One explanation Later…

Now, while Rin was concerned about Rider, her master Shinji, and apparently some sneak attacker who would come out of nowhere, what concerned her more was Avenger and her own shape-shifting Master. Things were becoming way too complicated for her taste. What kind of strategy could be utilised when dealing with a Master who could turn into various monsters? Dealing with Servants often involved doing research on their past lives and finding weaknesses but this was something entirely new.

Avenger and her Master were wild cards and a very powerful pair due to Avenger's identity as the 8th Servant and her Master's own mysterious ability to transform into a variety of forms with their own strengths and abilities. What they needed to do was to find out the Master's human identity.

"Your friend had better have something Emiya-kun," Rin frowned. "I hate being in the dark about things like this."

"Right, right," Shirou nodded, still blushing from being caught in such a compromising position with Saber. The blonde in question had simply put her blouse back on when Shirou was finished and didn't seem bothered at all by what had happened. It made Shirou wonder if she was raised as a boy or something. "He talked to me about it for ten minutes straight so I'm pretty sure he knows something."

"Good," Rin nodded. "So, we know so far he can turn into a ball monster, a water-shooting crab monster, a wind-shooting turtle monster, and a blue moth man. You still think he can turn into even more things Emiya-kun?"

"Pretty sure," Shirou nodded.

"Nnnnn!" Rin growled. Oh how she HATED unknown factors like this.

Easily recognizing Rin about to go off the deep end with her temper again, Shirou leaped to his feet, "Well, I think I'll be going to get dinner ready!"

"Make miso!"

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

**Matou Household**

Shinji had managed to return home from the excursion to the school. He was in less than a stellar mood thanks to the mess that the whole thing had turned into. Well, mess was somewhat of an understatement. It was unmitigated disaster. It turned into a complete free-for-all between three Servants and the weird shape-shifter. First he was a crab-thing, then a turtle, and then a moth. It just didn't make sense!

"Just what the hell is going on?" Shinji growled, clutching his head. "What the hell was that thing?"

"I do not know Master," Rider answered dutifully, following her Master.

"It was a rhetorical question!" Shinji snapped.

"I see."

Grumbling about idiot Servants, Shinji went to his room so he could try and work through his problems. He was too pissed off to think properly though, part of him just seeing another mage somehow showing off in front of him. What he did know though was that he was dealing with a Master who could change into monsters. He knew the thing was a Master too because he could see the Command Mantras on its hand. Whenever it changed forms, the command mantra and that stupid hourglass symbol would always remain the same. It had different abilities in each form, different means of fighting, and that moth thing he didn't see any of its abilities at all!

"JUST WHAT THE HELL AM I DEALING WITH?" he screamed, slamming his fists onto his desk. Rider wisely decided to keep her mouth shut. Panting for a moment after such a feral outburst, the male Matou turned his glare at Rider. "Go make yourself useful and collect mana or something. Don't go back to the school tonight at least where more Servants and their Masters show up. Don't come back until you're filled to the brim."

Rider was silent before she bowed her head, "Yes Master."

Silently, she left the room and left Shinji to brew in his anger and newly re-spawned jealousy. Another Master who made it a point to shove what they could do into his face! Oh, Shinji knew where it would end. It would end when he won the Holy Grail. Sure his grandfather wanted it, but once Shinji used to grant his wish the old man wouldn't be able to stand up to his might! Then he'd make sure everyone knew the Matou name! He'd destroy anyone who stood up to him, starting with the shape-shifting freak and Shirou!

"Nii-san? Is that you?" a soft female voice whispered almost inaudibly through Shinji's door.

Shinji's face turned feral. '_Hello stress relief._'

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

Ben decided to order room service that night. He couldn't really think on an empty stomach and he just felt a little too tired to try his hand at cooking again. He picked up the phone and asked Avenger, "Would you like anything to eat, Avenger?"

"Anything would be fine Ben," Avenger answered with a wince. Her mana link with Ben allowed her to recover quickly, but her wounds remained so she returned to her civilian outfit with the blouse opened so she could continue to press ice to the burn. Thankfully for Ben the wrappings beneath her tunic prevented burns from getting anywhere embarrassing while the tail end of the blow she received had burned her slightly, but not enough for her to feel pain. The burn on her shoulder there was what demanded her attention.

"Oh come on, there has to be something you'd prefer," Ben sighed. "I gave you the menu for a reason."

"Compared to what I was used to for most of my life, anything on this list is food from heaven," Avenger answered, picking up the sheet with the hotel's meals on it. "The most I was used to is bread and whatever the local farmers grew in their fields."

"So you used to be a peasant?" asked Ben.

"What?" Avenger blinked, looking at her Master.

"Well, your armour tells me your time was in the middle ages although I don't know specifically when," Ben explained. "I do know that soldiers for the military had probably a slightly better standard of living than civilians so if you're used to the bare simple essentials, you were probably one of the peasants. Am I right?"

"…that's…rather true Ben," Avenger nodded. "Very observant."

"Not really," Ben chuckled, beginning to dial the number. "Your armour made it pretty obvious when you came from and there were only so many people who got fed what I'd call real food instead of the bare essential things. If you didn't get professionally-made food, you were probably a peasant. I would have thought a hero like you would have gotten some of the good stuff at least."

"I wasn't always a hero," Avenger reminded her Master, sinking into her chair. "Times were very tough when my legend began. I doubt that many received what you call 'the good stuff' unless they were at the very top."

"That's a good point," Ben nodded, remembering what his life was like before Jimmy blew his identity to the whole world. Receiving little to no thanks for what he did and some people even being more afraid of him in his alien forms than of the people he saved them from. Heck, some people even considered him a worse threat than those he was protecting them from. Even now that he was considered a hero in Bellwood and the rest of the United States, he tended to be largely ignored by adults save reporters and his fans. He never forgot what it meant to be a hero, but it wasn't all fame and glory like Overlord tried to make it out to be.

Shaking his head, Ben glanced back at Avenger, "Tell you what then. We'll splurge and get the biggest and best stuff on the menu. I say we deserve it after all the action tonight."

"Ben, you do not have to…" Avenger tried to argue.

"Hey, you fought against someone using Excalibur!" Ben exclaimed. "I think you deserve to be spoiled a little. Not many can face a legendary sword like that and walk away." He grinned at his Servant teasingly. "Don't make me use one of those Command Spells."

Avenger laughed lightly at the mock-threat, "If my Master orders it, how can I refuse?"

"All right then!" Ben grinned as he punched in the number for room service. "The works, coming up. After that, all we can drink smoothies!"

* * *

**Miyama—Emiya Estate**

It was another late dinner at the Emiya home. That usually consisted of Rin and Shirou eating their fair share while Saber ate enough to fill three or four people. Where she put all the food, neither Rin nor Shirou could guess but it did make the Tohsaka heir jealous that Saber could eat so much and still maintain her slim figure. This day though, Rin was eating away at her meal angrily so she could forget her frustration while Saber didn't seem to notice her mood. Shirou though was just hoping Rin didn't snap on him and do something he'd regret.

"Delicious," Saber smiled softly as she finished another bowl. "May I have more?"

"Of course Saber," Shirou smiled. "Just a moment."

Rin just continued draining her dinner. At least Shirou's food was good for something, which was calming her down, kinda like Archer's tea.

"So, this time he turned into some kind of red-armored water-manipulating monster, a big turtle that could blow gusts of wind and a moth man," Rin summarised. Dealing with some Masters was easy enough once you saw their abilities but this shape-shifter could have many due to his many forms. The good thing was that he had specific powers for each specific form. The bad news was that he had so many to choose from.

"I think we've established that fact already Tohsaka-san," Shirou commented from his rice cooker. Usually it was Sakura who would be doing this, but it was kind of late for dinner. Hopefully Shirou hadn't worried her or his Fuji-nee by not being there.

"I'm just trying to get a handle on the situation!" Rin frowned. "Even for a mage it's not everyday that someone meets a guy who can turns into weird monsters! Now is there anything else at all we know about this guy?"

"He cares greatly for his Servant's welfare," Saber added as Shirou came back with a full plate, allowing her to dig in immediately. "He was in the middle of fighting Rider when we were attacked by the unknown Servant. When he saw it happen, he promptly ignored Rider and instead transformed into that wind-blowing form so he could clear the smoke and find her. Once he saw she was wounded, he transformed into his moth form and took her away."

"And neither of you have any idea what her Noble Phantasm was?" asked Rin with a sigh.

"I think she said the name in another language," Shirou shrugged. "I couldn't understand it."

"I did not find the language even remotely familiar," Saber added.

"All we know is that she's foreign then and we knew that much when Saber knocked her helmet off," Rin huffed.

"Say, why did you seem to freeze up when you saw her face Saber?" asked Shirou. "Did you know her?"

"Yeah, you did seem to clam up when you got to that part of the story," Rin frowned.

"I…I mistook her as someone I knew," Saber answered, looking uncomfortable as she tried to concentrate on her food. "Memories connected to that person broke my concentration."

"Oh, well if that's all," Rin rolled her eyes. "Emiya-kun said you two could have been sisters since you both looked so alike."

"We aren't," Saber frowned.

"Well, whatever. I think it's time we focus on something else. Emiya-kun, what was Rider doing there?" Rin asked.

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

Back at the hotel room, Ben and Avenger were having dinner together. Avenger felt a little embarrassed about being spoilt like this. As she mentioned before, she was used to the bare minimum most of the time so she was rather unused to being given luxuries. "Ben, this is too much. You shouldn't be wasting money like this. I am just a Servant and-"

"Relax, it's all being taken care of, let's just enjoy ourselves," said Ben as he waved off her concern.

Avenger shook her heard with a smile. If her Master felt the need to do this then she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. Still, they had much to discuss. "I still think we should talk about our opponents tonight: the Saber and Rider," said Avenger seriously. She seemed to be feeling a lot better now, thanks to the mana which was supplied to her from Ben. The burn was still there, but now it was negligible rather than simply needing ice constantly.

"Yeah, Rider," Ben agreed. "As hot as she was, she was really giving me the creeps." Looking to the table in the living room, Ben eyed the book which was probably filled with more information by now. Setting aside his steak and potatoes, Ben reached out and grabbed the book. Opening it, he flipped through past Lancer, Archer, and Berserker before coming across a portrait of Rider. She looked as seductive as ever, but despite the hormone raise around her she still looked creepy.

"Here we go. Rider," Ben commented as he began looking up stats. "Let's see. Strength (C), Agility (B), and Mana (B). Okay, so she's got some decent reserves considering she fights with a chain of all things. She was probably using her mana to help manipulate it so well."

"Possibly," Avenger nodded. "Is there more?"

"Yup," Ben nodded as he continued reading. "So far there's two Personal Skills here; Independent Action (C) and Divinity (E-). Wait…she has divinity, but it's so low. What does that mean?"

"Probably that she used to be more closely connected to divine figures, but fell from grace, losing most of what made her Divinity so potent. Only a trace of it remained," Avenger replied. "With the rank it is, it's negligible unlike Berserker so we may be lucky in that regard."

"For once," Ben nodded. "And call me dumb, but what does this Independent Action mean? Aside from direct orders, don't Servants have the right to take whatever actions they see fit in the first place?"

"Yes, but Independent Action is more than that," Avenger explained. "It's a special ability which permits the Servant in possession of it to actually survive for some amount of time after their Master has been killed or their contract broken. Since Rider's rank is on the lower side, I would estimate she could survive about a day or so without a Master."

"So even if we went with the 'take out the Master first' strategy, Rider would be able to survive long enough to possibly find another Master and get back into the Grail War," Ben observed. Seeing Avenger nod, he continued. Looking back down to the book, he looked for the next portion of information. "Well, the good news is that her chains aren't Noble Phantasms. The bad news is that we don't know any of them. They aren't listed here."

"So Rider's entry is vastly incomplete," Avenger sighed. "What about Saber?"

"Just a sec," Ben replied, flipping through pages until he came across the image of the regal blonde. "Here we go. I swear you two could be sisters." Hearing Avenger chuckle slightly, he cracked a grin of his own and continued. "Strength (B), Mana(B), Endurance (C), and Agility (C). Man, she's tough considering how frail she looks. If it weren't for Excalibur and her armour, I never would have pegged her as a Servant of any kind."

"I can attest to that," Avenger nodded. "She is very skilled in the art of the sword."

"Then let's see her Personal Skills," Ben continued. "Instinct (A). Guess that means she's got a buttload of experience to fall back on. It's the only skill here too so whatever else she's capable of doing, we haven't seen it."

"And her Noble Phantasms?" asked Avenger.

"Besides Excalibur which by the way is ranked A++?" asked Ben. "One called Invisible Air. Saber is able to call forth small whirlwinds which cover her sword and spin around so much they actually refract light and make the thing invisible. That makes it hard to fight against."

"Yes," Avenger nodded. "One of the deciding factors in a battle is knowing the range of the weapon which your enemy is using on you. If I don't know how long Excalibur is, I run the risk of getting struck by it. That is how Saber was able to strike my head. Thankfully the angle of the blow only knocked off my helmet and not my head."

"Hmmm," Ben frowned. "I probably have a guy or two which may be able to help with that," If Excalibur was staying invisible so to avoid revealing how long and wide it was so to surprise the enemy, they would need something that would reveal that despite Saber using Invisible Air. Ben was already getting ideas but unless they saw Saber again, they wouldn't be able to really try them.

"Even if I told you to stay back and let me fight, you will still fight alongside me, won't you?" asked Avenger.

"A hero never lets a lady fight alone," Ben quoted. "It's something my Grandpa Max always told me."

"He sounds like a wise man," Avenger smiled. "Could you tell me more about your family?"

"Sure," Ben shrugged.

After Ben told Avenger about his family, it was already late, so it was time for them to turn in. They slept in separate beds in separate rooms so Ben wouldn't feel awkward. Avenger knew how to pick her battles despite what her instinct told her to do. She was a Servant, but still a woman, and if his cousin and Kevin ever caught him in bed with a strange woman well…he knew Gwen would be pissed and Kevin wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

* * *

**Miyama-Matou Household**

Zouken Matou was not by any means considered a nice man. He was cruel, spiteful, bitter and very much desperate. Once a strapping young man, now he was reduced to a hobbling old man in his waning years. His absolutely rotten attitude easily stemmed from how his family's magical potential had all but vanished over the years, leaving him the only true Matou able to use magic aside from his adopted granddaughter. He had two sons and while one went on to have Shinji, the useless lump of flesh the other attempted to fight in the Fourth Grail War with Berserker and ended up dying because of the Crest Worms which Zouken had implanted in him.

The weak cretin.

Zouken's not so well-known desperation came from his waning years and just how badly he wanted to claim Holy Grail. His wish was as simple as any. Zouken wanted immortality. With that immortality, he would be able to put his family back on the right track and have them retake their true names, the Makiri.

Now one would ask why Zouken was allowing his grandchildren to take part in the Holy Grail War when he held such a high opinion in his own magical ability and held nothing but disdain for his grandson and little to no feelings for his granddaughter. In truth, Zouken would have preferred to summon a Servant of his own but by the time he forced his granddaughter to summon Rider all of the Servants had already been summoned. That blasted witch Caster had summoned a Servant of her own before anyone else could summon the last Servant. It incensed Zouken like little did before. The only silver lining that appealed to the stewing old man was that the Grail held a seven and seven rule. That meant that so long as Caster or her Servant remained, Zouken would not be able to try and secure his immortality as he wished. As such, the impatient man was forced to wait.

Then a further insult struck when an eighth Servant was summoned.

After calling that blasted priest Kotomine so to confirm his suspicions. He then received the news that Servant Avenger had reappeared and had been summoned by an American boy named Ben Tennyson. Zouken immediately sent out his familiars to spy on the boy and his Servant, watching their battles with Archer, Berserker, Rider, and Saber. He witnessed the boy's ability to transform into different monsters and what they were capable of. Zouken had seen many, many things in his life but the boy's abilities were something even he hadn't been truly prepared for. However, Zouken knew that the boy would be a considerable threat combined with a Servant that could compete with Saber's Noble Phantasm.

As much bad news as this eighth Servant, it also was a good sign for Zouken. Like after the first war which was supposed to include the Von Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Makiri at first, the Grail had manipulated the rules so that seven Masters could take part. Now it seemed that the Grail was manipulating the rules again to allow the Tennyson boy to compete with Avenger. Troublesome as it was, it gave Zouken hope that perhaps he could summon a Servant which was never seen before in the history of the War.

So with his grandson off raping his sister again, Zouken resided in the basement with a new summoning array while his worm familiars squirmed about like living rot. He was concentrating on his power, invoking everything he felt proper to call in a Servant. He had to try and take advantage of the flexibility of the rules in the current War in order to be able to take part himself. His desire for immortality was growing closer and he could almost taste it. He was in no mood to rely on others to get what he wanted. This time, he would do it himself!

"Come forth," Zouken snarled in concentration, his familiars squirming about in a frenzy. "My Servant…I order you to come forth." The summoning array was glowing in red light, raising Zouken's hopes further. "COME! FORTH!"

And lo, a disaster came to be.

The light of the blood red array erupted, making the room appear as if it was bathed in blood. Zouken's gnarled face twisted into a cruel grin. The centre of the array was met with a dark object which faded into view. Before any detail could be seen on what had come forth, the light of the array went out. Zouken's eyes had to readjust to the sudden change in the light, but when he managed to get his sight back to normal, his grin returned with twice the intensity.

Standing in the middle of the room was a tall figure whose skin was completely black. He had nice and lean muscle over his frame, but it was sinewy, making the man appear to be little more than skin and bones. His abdomen was actually thinner than his chest. On his waist was raggedy black rags which made the man appear similar to a vagabond. While his legs and left arm had black strips of cloth tied around them, his right arm was completely covered in thick black cloth, obscuring even his hand. Lastly his face was absolutely featureless save for a bone white skull mask concealing his identity.

"Are you…my Master?" the figure hissed out, his voice acting as if thick gravel was in his throat from disuse.

"I am," Zouken grinned. "Welcome to the Holy Grail War…Hassan-I-Sabbah. My True Assassin"

**To Be Continued…**

A/N: Yo! Chapter 2 completed. A lot can happen in one night, can't it?

Now I know that Zouken in the original Fate/Stay Night was not able to summon the True Assassin until the one Caster summoned was destroyed. However, with the rules of the Grail War being as unstable as they were thanks to the manipulations made to accommodate Avenger it gave Zouken some leeway since the Assassin Caster summoned is not admittedly one who fills the role perfectly. Rather, he's more like a familiar or summoned minion like Caster's skeletons than an actual Servant that was crafted to take the role of Assassin. Hassan-I-Sabbah is the true deal and takes back his role by force with Zouken's magic.

Oh, and for those of you who like to nitpick, I left the stats for the Servants in the book incomplete on purpose since those were the only aspects of them Ben had seen thus far. As he faces off against the Servants more and sees more of their abilities and qualities in action, he'll get more and more information.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Ben 10 or Fate/Stay Night. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and I hope you all enjoy this.**

Fate/Stay Night: Ultimate Master

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Night 3: Plans, Plans, and more Plans

_She was tired and she was angry. Once again she was preparing to go out with the members of the army she could count on as her personal allies and friends to go and defeat the final stronghold of Les Tourelles. Despite winning victories at St. Loup and at the Augustins, the Bastard of Orleans was still insisting that they wait for reinforcements to come and help. He claimed they didn't have the manpower to take a station like Les Tourelles, but she knew otherwise. With St. Loup and the Augustins gone, the enemy was isolated, alone, and on the defensive. It was a perfect time to strike and she would be dammed if some idiotic fool with more money than sense wanted to cower behind the walls when his country was being ransacked by invaders. _

_She and the Bastard had butted head numerous times. He had absolutely no respect for her despite being advocated by the king and had done everything he could to get her out of her position and strong-arm control of the relief army for himself. His attempts to do such only increased after she and the army took back St. Loup and the Augustins. He was fishing for glory in the eyes of the king and he knew that whimpering behind walls wasn't going to do that but if he had control of the army that pulled him out of the grips of defeat he could get that glory without having to lift a finger._

_Not while she did God's work and bled for her country._

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

"Woah," Ben groaned as he came back to the conscious world. He could remember the dream with utmost clarity, swords, knights, and going off to fight war. Usually his dreams centred around making Vilgax and Agreggor cry like babies at his feet and worship his awesomeness. Sure it was somewhat arrogant, but after the grief the two would-be-conquerors put him and his friends through Ben thought he was entitled to some fantasy beatdowns.

Yawning, Ben removed himself from the bed and grabbed his bathing supplies before heading to the shower. It would be just what he needed to wake up after the weird dream. Walking into he rather expansive bathroom, Ben immediately set about his daily rituals so he could be ready for the day. Who knew when you'd have to stop and save the world or fight off Epic Heroes?

* * *

**Miyama—Emiya Estate**

Shirou finished washing the dishes as Rin headed out once again with Archer to try and scope out the competition. Although if one asked him, she was trying to find that shape-shifting Master so she could try and beat him up for embarrassing her. Fuji-neesan had gone to grade papers during the students' day off from school after the total destruction of the archery range. It had taken all of Shirou's self control not to show a reaction to his teacher sobbing upon her arrival for breakfast about how her club activities had been ruined. Finally, Saber went off to sleep and conserve her power after eating her own weight in food that morning.

"Going to have to go shopping again," Shirou sighed as he eyed the low levels of sustenance residing in his fridge and cupboards. It was a good thing that school had been cancelled while police investigated the newest 'gas leak'. It would give him the chance to restock his food supplies. Closing the fridge door, he checked his pocket for his wallet and available funds before heading for the door, "No sense putting it off then."

* * *

**Shinto—Streets**

Ben was taking a walk in Fuyuki City to familiarize himself with the sights. Avenger had wanted to go along with him but he declined the offer, citing that she still needed rest after the previous night. He even threatened to use one of the Command Sigils to reinforce his point though he wasn't serious. He didn't want her to overexert herself after she got hurt and despite her words to the contrary, she wasn't at one hundred percent just yet. Also, since it was the day it was unlikely he would be attacked as the fights were meant to be at night and/or in secluded areas. So as long as it was daylight and he was in public he would be safe.

Ben's travels eventually took him into the shopping district where the most of the retail stores and such were found for the city. He idly entertained the thought of buying some souvenirs for his friends and family while he was gone. Maybe something nice would placate his mother about some of the school he was missing in favour of this mission he was on. Gwen had wanted some of the local artwork like ink paintings if he could find some for payment in return for helping him learn how to read Japanese even though Plumber technology made him able to understand it verbally. Kevin had asked for some DVDs of Japanese cartoons, but when Ben got the list of titles and looked them up out of sheer curiosity, he was pretty sure it was the kind that wasn't suitable for kids.

Wandering around a corner, Ben wasn't paying attention to where he was going and found himself bumping into someone. Stunned slightly, the American boy brought his attention back to the present and found that he had bumped into a red-haired boy in casual clothes. He was laid down with several bags filled with food. Nothing was spilled, but the boy was quickly losing his balance before Ben caught his arm and brought him back to his own two feet.

"Thanks," the boy sighed in relief.

"Sorry about that," Ben smiled slightly. "I should have been watching where I was going. At least you didn't spill something."

"Oh yeah," the boy chuckled. "With as many people as I have coming over for meals I kind of have to keep stocked up. Anything less and I'd be receiving complaints left and right."

"I've met people who do that even when you do everything right," Ben laughed, remembering Kevin's numerous snarky comments in any situation he was in. "My name's Ben Tennyson."

"Sirou Emiya," the boy introduced with a bow. "Are you a tourist Tennyson-san? It's not often any of us see foreigners in Fuyuki City. They usually go to places like Tokyo and Kyoto instead."

"Fuyuki sounded like a small enough place to relax, but also big enough to let me do the tourist routine," Ben answered, casually lying about the real reason he was in Fuyuki. "I was trying to think of what to get my friends and family when I bumped into you."

"Then I guess I shouldn't keep you. Family is important after all," Shirou smiled, although not as vibrantly as before. "Maybe we'll meet again sometime."

"Maybe," Ben shrugged. "See you around."

"Sure," Shirou nodded.

* * *

Shirou walked away from meeting Ben, feeling somewhat good about meeting a new possible friend. Still, something about Ben seemed familiar to him. He knew he had never met Ben before, having never met an American before in his life. Still, the green-jacketed boy just seemed so familiar to him. Knowing Shirou's luck he'd probably remember later on in the night just while he was laying down to go to sleep.

* * *

After walking away from meeting Shirou, Ben wandered into one of the local parks. He was slightly more wary, but there were several more people around so he felt secure enough to at least. Settling down on a bench, Ben decided to just take some time and enjoy the day. Normally it wasn't something he usually did but every once in a while even a fast-paced guy like Ben liked to rest and take in some relaxation time.

Of course, that relaxation time came to an abrupt end when a pair of hands covered Ben's eyes with a cheery "Guess who!"

"Wagh!" Ben cried, stumbling away from the hands and whirled around with the Ultimatrix ready to go. However, Ben's mental facilities stalled when he saw not some kind of bloodthirsty Servant, but a little girl in a purple blouse and white dress with white hair. Berserker's Master.

"Hiya Ben-niichan!" Illya smiled brightly.

"You," Ben grimaced. "Come to sic Berserker on me again?"

"Don't be silly!" Illya giggled as she plopped onto the bench. "We're near a bunch of people and it's broad daylight. The War's supposed to be secret!" she finished the last part in a loud whisper and brought her hand to her mouth like she was passing on a secret. Leaning back, she smiled. "So sit down Ben-niichan. I wanted to talk to you and I was lucky enough to find you!"

Ben blinked at the admittedly adorable sight the girl made, sitting on the bench and kicking her feet. Still, Ben knew that she was the Master of a completely insane and very powerful Servant. However, if she was going to sic said lunatic on him then he was pretty sure that she wasn't going to do it while she was sitting right next to him. So he slowly did just that, leaning back in the seat with Illya right next to him. Of course, that didn't last long before the white-haired girl scrambled over to him and dropped herself in his lap, smiling adorably.

"After I managed to see you fight Berserker I decided that I wanted to talk to you," Illya explained. "You were pretty cool out there and it was neat how cutie-cutie Echo-Echo managed to hold off Berserker long enough for you and your Servant to get away." She then puffed out her cheeks and turned to glare cutely at Ben. "Although it was mean of you to make me fix up all of the damage with my magic."

"Well…you did make the most mess," Ben chuckled weakly. "Since you were the last one there, you were the one who had to clean up."

"Fooey! I hate that rule!" Illya huffed. Her cheeks were puffed cutely for a moment before she sighed and continued talking, "Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to team up!"

"Team up?" Ben blinked.

"Sure!" Illya smiled. "With Berserker along with your powers and your Servant we'd be unstoppable! We'd only fight each other at the very end too!" her face then turned thoughtful. "Then again, since there are eight Servants this time, maybe we only need to be the last two standing. That way the Von Einzberns and I can give you a wish as thanks for helping."

"That's pretty generous," Ben commented, still not quite sure what to make of the albino girl. "Don't you want it to wish for something?"

"Hmm, I haven't really thought of anything," Illya commented, looking thoughtful. "We just really, really want to win the Grail because ever since the Grail Wars started my family has never won it not even once. It seems like everyone else can win it, but never us. Grandfather really wants to win this War since last time we were really, really close."

Ben actually could understand how she felt. When he was a kid he always wanted to win at something, be it video games or sports. This girl, Ilya, wasn't sure what she wanted to wish for but that could be a lie. Ben knew that a pretty face could hide malicious intent pretty well from experience. Even little kids could be cruel.

"So, you just want to team up because you need an advantage," Ben concluded.

"Yup! And you have so many forms! You can do anything, Ben-niichan!" the Albino girl beamed adoringly. Ben was strongly reminded of Jimmy Jones, his self-proclaimed biggest fan while looking at Illya's smiling face.

Of course, despite Illya's cuteness Ben still had to think of her offer. On one hand, teaming up with her would allow him to keep an eye on her. However, on the other hand, it would cause him to drop his guard and she might just sic Berserker on him when his back was turned. She didn't seem to care if she killed other Masters. Masters were the Servants' anchor to this realm. The way she had Berserker attack both him and Avenger certainly made that pretty clear. If what she was saying was true, her family was pushing her to win this war more for family pride than anything else and it seemed that they were the really pushy types too, valuing Illya more for getting them the Grail than for being the cute girl she was.

"So anyway Ben-niichan, just who is your Servant anyway?" asked Illya, breaking his train of thought. "There's only supposed to be seven Servants."

"Oh, you mean Avenger?" asked Ben. Either this girl was trying to fish for information, or it was just one of those little kid habits to change the subject of conversation every five minutes. "She's been turning some heads. I don't really know who she was when she was alive. All I know is that she can take on someone like Saber and match her pretty well."

"She sounds strong," Illya smiled. "But no one's stronger than my Berserker!"

"Oh yeah?" Ben grinned. Maybe if he got Illya on a roll, she might spill who her Servant was just in case she decided that she didn't need to team up with Ben anymore. "And just who is Berserker that makes him so strong anyway?"

"The greatest of the Greek heroes!" Illya cheered. "Hercules!"

Ben was silent at the announcement, "H…H…Hercules? You mean the actual son of Zeus, the guy who did twelve undoable tasks, THAT Hercules?"

"That's him! My Berserker!" Illya grinned.

"But I thought he was just a myth!" Ben cried in shock.

"Silly! Only to people who don't know about magic," Illya grinned. "What everyone else calls myths, mages call reality. My family knew exactly where Berserker's tomb was and so we took a chunk of it out and made it into that sword Berserker uses now. It's what I used to make sure I summoned him and not some random Berserker." The white-haired girl turned to smile at Ben. "Bet you really want to join up with me now, don't you?"

"Uhhhhh," Ben gaped. To be honest, teaming up with the son of the strongest of the Greeks gods sounded pretty darn tempting. It was Hercules, the Man, the Myth, the Legend for crying out loud. Who didn't know about him by all his legends and Myths?

"Tell you what," Ben offered. "We got the whole day to do what we want. How about we just hang out for a bit? You know, just be normal kids. We can talk about alliances and stuff later once we've had our fun."

"Hmmm, that sounds fun!" Illya smiled. "Let's do it!"

* * *

**Miyama—Ryudou Shrine**

Caster held a deep frown as she scryed the Masters of Avenger and Berserker conversing and quite possibly moving into making an alliance with one another. That could not be permitted since it would spell sure disaster for her and her plans. Berserker was trouble enough thanks to his Noble Phantasm and divine derived strength. If someone like him were to work alongside the vast capabilities of the shape-shifter and the Saber-like qualities that Avenger possessed then winning the Grail War would prove extremely difficult at best.

"Still," she spoke to herself. "That does not mean they are invincible."

At the moment, the two Masters were alone. Of course, the girl probably had Berserker astralized nearby and the boy would be able to transform once again in a heartbeat. However, Berserker was only one Servant and if the boy was distracted, perhaps he would not be able to transform in time to prevent his own demise at the hands of her magic. She had plenty of skill with her magic and was more than capable of executing her plan. She just had to wait for the opportunity. She had only so far been passive in her role in the War, harvesting mana where she could so she could fuel her magic.

Now it was time to take the offensive.

* * *

**Shinto-Streets**

"Thank you, Ben-niichan!" Illya smiled as she hugged the stuffed cat Ben had got for her at the arcade. The two had been wandering around the Verde shopping plaza and ended up finding the arcade. Feeling like doing something so Illya would have fun, he ended up winning her the stuffed kitty. The white-haired girl of course elated to have the gift, apparently not even allowed to have a pet before thanks to her strict upraising. "You're really good at those things."

"Hey, I'm not famous for nothing," Ben boasted. Yes, he was mature but even he had an ego and she was showering him praises like a little fangirl. Exiting from the arcade, Ben noticed that the sky was turning orange and less people were on the streets. Considering the curfew in place, the streets would be empty by the time that the moon was out and that in turn would signal all of the Masters to begin their efforts to win the Grail War for the night. Despite having Berserker…HERCULES of all people as her Servant, Illya was still a little girl and all it would take would be one lucky shot to take her and thus Berserker down. Despite being an opponent of Ben in this War, he couldn't let that happen. "Hey, how about I walk you home?" he offered.

"Hmmm, I'm not allowed to show people where I live, but I suppose I could let you walk me to a bus stop or something," Illy 'hmm'-ed in thought.

"Well, if you're sure," Ben shrugged. He didn't feel great about it, but he had long since pegged Illya as the stubborn kind of child. If she wanted something, she was going to dig her heels in until she got it. Likewise if she didn't want something she was going to push it away for all her worth. Deciding one last bit of goofing off was necessary, Ben made a grand show of bowing as if he was asking Illya to dance at a ball. "Let this humble hero escort the beautiful princess to the grand bus stop."

"Stop it! You're making me blush!" Illya giggled, her hands on her cheeks.

Taking Ben's hand, the pair began their trek towards the bus stop. The nearest one was across from the park which they had met up in earlier in the day. The sun was still out somewhat, making Ben feel that they could risk the trek. Crossing the street, they began padding across the soft grass of the park. Travelling down the path as Illya happily cuddled her new toy, Ben took notice that there were a few people on benches or laying on the grass like couples. They weren't moving so Ben simply assumed that they were couples enjoying the picturesque scenery before the curfew forced them to head home. He certainly wasn't going to deny them a chance for some romance. He barely got enough himself what with his new celebrity status.

Travelling closer to the people on the bench so to get to the bus stop, Ben noticed that they weren't admiring the view, but they were unconscious. Glancing over to what appeared to be couples laying near one of the trees, it was clear that they were out cold as well. Illya likewise took notice of the sleeping people and was no longer happily cuddling her toy but was instead looking around with hardened eyes. It was rather obvious by that point that something was definitely not right.

"Get ready Illya," Ben frowned.

"Right Ben-niichan." Illya nodded.

The background noise of the world around them seemed to just die off quite suddenly and without warning. Still, one sound remained, causing Ben and Illya to turn towards the source. Walking down the path with her boots echoing loudly in the silent night was a shapely woman in a black cloak with black robes. A black hood with a gold ornament concealed her identity save for her fair skin and strangely blue hair. The calm smile on her lips put Ben on edge.

"Caster," Illya frowned.

"Correct little one," the robed woman nodded.

"So what brings you out here?" asked Ben with a frown, although he could guess the answer to that question.

"I was scrying on all of the Masters when I saw your proposal for an alliance," Caster answered as she continued her slow and graceful approach. "I naturally cannot allow that to happen. Between your powers and the girl's Servant not to mention the Saber-like qualities of Avenger it would make winning the Holy Grail that much more difficult. So, I will be taking steps to ensue that one or both of you will be eliminated tonight."

"Oh yeah?" asked Ben. "You and what army?"

"Fufufufufu," Caster laughed daintily. Raising her hand, she made her answer. "Why, this one." A pulse of purple energy rose from Caster's hand as she invoked her magic. A light pulsed through the area before the ground seemed to erupt with dirt and soil before skeletons which overshadowed any regular human and was twisted, appearing more like ogre skeletons. Each of the piles of bones sported razor sharp teeth and large swords which despite their obvious age, looked quite capable of cutting.

"I really have to stop jinxing myself," mumbled Ben. "What is this, Halloween?" Ben grimaced as he saw the skeletons surrounding them, with more bursting out.

"I hope your previous battles weren't flukes," Caster laughed. "Otherwise you won't be getting out of this."

Illya and Ben looked in all directions at the army of mutated skeletons beginning to approach. So far they were ignoring the unconscious people, but Ben didn't want to put anyone at risk so keeping the skeletons as well as Caster distracted from them would be key.

"Berserker!" Illya shouted, signalling the beginning of the battle. Behind her, the massive form of the dark-skinned Berserker appeared with his weapon at the ready and a snarl on his face.

Ben knew that it was about to hit the fan. Not bothering to even try to play the role of peacekeeper, he swiftly activated the Ultimatrix, bringing up an image of one of his multiple alien forms. "Going hero!" he then slammed, the face down, beginning the change. His body immediately gained thousands of pounds in muscle and bone. His skin shifted from the mammal variety to a brown reptilian kind. His legs shifted to trunk-like legs while a tail sprouted from him spine. His face shifted to a more saurian outlook with bright green eyes while the rest of his body solidified into a 12ft tall mass of dinosaur muscle and might. "**Humungousaur!**"

The pseudo-Vaxasaurian growled, but then blinked and looked at himself. "Oh sure. Now you decide Humungousaur is okay when I'm going for Armodrillo." He hefted a sigh before clenching his fists. "Oh well. This is just as good." He heard Berserker growl at him and growled right back. The Servant was possibly still angry about the last time. The again, being Berserker when was he not angry?

"Berserker, Ben-niichan is not the enemy!" said Illya in an authoritative tone. She pointed at the skeletons, "They are! Wipe them out!"

With a roar, Berserker went, well, berserk on the skeletons. Humongousaur also joined in, his massive fists crashing against the skeletons as his feet stomped on them. Illya was squealing when she saw this. She was indeed acting like a little fangirl when it came to watching Humungousaur and Berserker smash and stomp the piles of enchanted bone. The little monsters did attempt to bring down the towering masses of muscle, but ended up going out in cadaver genocide. Berserker's God Hand made him all but immune to their pitiful attempts while Humongousaur's body was toughened up by the long ages of fighting the Vaxasaurians had to put up with on their home world thanks to the warring factions of animal-like species. In total, Berserker and Humungousaur: 50 and counting. Skeletons and Caster: 0.

The blue-haired witch frowned as she watched the pair of monstrosities tear through her skeleton minions like tissue paper. She had been expecting this, but at the rate the pair were going through them all she would have to summon more sooner than she expected and the last group alone drained the mana she had harvested out of the people remaining in the park. She hadn't bothered to shield herself half as well as she normally would have as she made her way to the park. If any of the other Masters were as competent as they claimed to be…

"It's over here!"

"Right on schedule," the witch smiled as she turned to see Archer and Saber approaching with their Masters in tow. Turning to face the quartet, she made the motions of at least greeting them properly. "We meet at last Saber, Archer. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever be able to face either of you eventually." She gestured back to where Berserker and Humungousaur were destroying the last of her skeletal minions. "I was beginning to get a little bored just playing with these two. So primitive they are."

The four turned, finally noticing the sheer carnage which was going on. Saber and Archer both looked on to see Berserker working together with a large lizard creature, destroying what they assumed to be Caster's familiars or minions with very little difficulty. Both clenched their weapons, knowing that if it came to blows with the two then it was going to get very difficult. Shirou and Rin on the other hand…

"A DINOSAUR?" Rin screamed. "WHAT CAN'T THIS GUY TURN INTO?"

"A…dinosaur?" Shirou blinked. Like every small boy, Shirou had dreamed of being able to see a real live dinosaur someday. This wasn't exactly what he expected such a dream coming true would turn out like.

"They work well together," Caster idly commented. "It seems they've teamed up too. A wise move on their part I suppose."

"No way," Rin's eyes narrowed. If Berserker's Master and this shape-shifting Master teamed up, then things would be harder for her in the long run. Plus, Berserker was powerful and there was no information on Avenger, which meant that this alliance could be the strongest one in the entire history of the Grail Wars. There was no way she was going to let that happen as too much was at stake here. "Archer, take that big lizard down!" Rin ordered.

"On it," Archer nodded, tracing his usual bow before whispering an odd sentence. "_I am the bone of my sword,_"

The words apparently held power and what appeared seemed to be a sword at first, but the blade was twisted into a coil, making it more aerodynamic. The hilt was shifted slightly to be used for the function of an arrow. Archer didn't waste any time loading it into his bow and taking a stance so to draw back the weapon to fire. Saber merely stood at the ready, Excalibur drawn so that she would be prepared for when Berserker and likely Avenger would arrive

Chuckling, Caster vanished in a ripple of mana content to let events play out. If everything worked, she would be down several opponents.

Ignoring Caster, seeing her as the inferior opponent for the moment Archer took careful aim at the broad back of Humungousaur. With his target set and distracted by the last of the skeletons, Archer smirked and let his improvised arrow fly. The modified form of the Noble Phantasm called Caladbolg II cut or rather drilled though the air on an uninterrupted path towards the pseudo-Vaxasaurian. As the last of the skeletons were taken care of by Berserker, Illya looked at her new friend and spotted something racing at his unprotected back.

"Ben-niichan!" she cried out. "Behind you!"

"Huh? What?" Humungousaur blinked as he turned slightly to see what Illya had been pointing at. His eyes only caught sight of a flash of silver before he felt something impact against his shoulder with painful force and with an even more painful drilling sensation. If that weren't enough, the damn thing then exploded taking a large portion of Humungousar's shoulder with it

"AAAAAAUGH!" Humungousaur bellowed in pain, dropping to his pack from the force of the explosion. He gripped his shoulder with his free hand, Vaxasaurian blood running freely between his fingers as he tried to close the wound. The pain all but blinded him, none of his previous enemies having been able to do this amount of damage before. He couldn't even feel his arm! Panting from the pain and hearing Illya screaming about something, Humungousaur's only thoughts turned to the only person in Fuyuki he knew would help him no matter what. If there was any time to call in backup, it was now. "Avenger! Help me!"

On Humungousaur's large hand, the Command Mantras began to react. The bottom portion began to shine bright red before fading away, indicating that the order had been made.

Instantly, the air rippled with mana once again as a Servant appeared. This time it was not Caster, but the armoured form of Avenger. She landed on the grass lightly next to Humungousaur and immediately guessed that he was her Master in another form…and that he was severely injured.

"Ben!" she gasped, dashing to the bleeding alien dinosaur. Her voice held intense worry as to the condition of her Master, but she also was holding back a lot of rage at the sight of the injury. Tenderly touching the hand clutching the wound, she ground out. "Ben…Master, who did this to you?"

"You can thank Archer for that," Humungousar grunted, gritting his teeth. "Keep him distracted. Don't let him fire off another arrow. I'll be back on my feet in a moment to pay him back for this personally."

"Your will be done Master," Avenger growled. Turning away, she held up her sword and charged for the position of Saber and Archer. The read-clad Servant seemed to be already lining up for another shot while Saber was moving to intercept Avenger's angered charge. The pseudo-Vaxasuarian growled and rolled onto his knees, still clutching his bleeding shoulder and numb arm. The wielder of the Ultimatrix liked to think he was a good guy at heart and despite how his ego tended to get inflated sometimes, he kept a cool head especially during heated situations. Right now though, seeing Archer coolly notching another arrow to try and take him out, he felt nothing but rage.

"Alright, tough guy. You wanna dance, let's dance," growled Humungosaur as he pressed his palm onto the Ultimatrix symbol, twisting it before slapping it again. "Going Ultimate!" The spokes poked out and a green wave swept over Humongosaur, turning his scales green, giving him a shell on his back with spikes on it and a tail with a spiked ball at the tip. He also sported a helmet made from the same material as his shell and extra armour on his chest and stomach. Even better than the growth of muscles and bones was the fact that the hole in his shoulder was closed by the green wave and looked as good as new.

With a roar he called out, "**Ultimate Humungousaur!**" He pointed his fists at Archer and they morphed, turning into Gatling cannons with barrels which had once been his knuckles. Snarling, U. Humungousar let out volleys of natural missiles which were in fact made from the same substance as his bones.

"Damn!" Archer hissed, abandoning his shot in order to dodge the kinetically unstable bone missiles. However, U. Humungousar kept on shooting and making more and more violent impacts with his main weapon.

"Down Emiya-kun!" Rin cried as she pushed Shirou out of the path of the missiles after Archer, herself following a heartbeat later. The two mages hiding behind one of the convenient trees so to better shield themselves from the missiles. Frowning, Rin glanced past her shield and watched as Saber and Avenger fought while the green dinosaur kept shooting at Archer. Berserker seemed to be sticking close to his half-pint Master while said half-pint in question was gaping openly at the green and armoured dinosaur. The insane Servant didn't seem happy to be out of the action though.

"This is not good," Rin frowned. "He did this last time I saw him. I don't know what that ability is, but it seems to amplify the abilities of whatever form he's in and maybe grant new ones too."

"Like Reinforcement?" asked Shirou, studying the form of the green dinosaur. At the same time, he kept an eye on Saber and how Avenger was angrily attacking her again and again.

"No, this is something else," Rin frowned in thought. "If I had to call it anything, I'd call it instant evolution or something. This goes way beyond Reinforcement or similar spells."

Archer was dodging the bone missiles flying at him, trying to come up with a plan. It seemed this mysterious Master had a lot of tricks up his sleeve but he managed to notice he needed to touch that symbol on his chest to access his transformation. He concluded that the symbol was a weak spot. Reinforcing his eyes, he focused on it. If he could take it out, he could take this Master out of the game for good. Of course, he had to avoid getting hit by those explosive bone missiles.

"Trace on," he muttered, bringing forth another bow and Caladbolg II. He'd have to time this just right and position himself right or else he'd just miss or hit the wrong spot. Were it on the brown version of his dinosaur opponent he wouldn't have worried but the carapace on this one looked a lot thicker and thus a lot harder to pierce.

"Hold still!" U. Humungosaur shouted, still shooting at Archer.

"Make me," the red-clad Servant muttered, landing on the ground and loading his arrow for the shot. U. Humungosaur turned and aimed both of his missile hands at the bowman, but then his eyes widened in surprise and he promptly returned his hands to normal. Archer was a little confused by his actions until he glanced behind his back and spotted several unconscious people who had apparently been drained severely and left where they were. The battle with the skeletons obviously didn't disturb them and this current brawl wasn't either. Looking back at his opponent, Archer realized that he was as naïve as Shirou was after all.

"Should have taken the shot pal," Archer commented as he prepared to let the arrow fly. "You could have gotten me right here and now."

Archer let the arrow fly, aimed precisely at the symbol in the centre of the dinosaur's chest. U. Humungousaur of course attempted to defend himself before the arrow ended up seriously wounding him or worse. Archer's aim was true and the arrow version of Caladbolg II struck against U. Humungousaur's crossed arms, creating another echoing boom and a large cloud of dust. While Archer doubted the ability for Caladbolg II to be able to pierce both arms and strike his target while remaining a regular Noble Phantasm, it would leave him open and allow Archer to strike the blow.

Archer waited for the smoke to clear, preparing to go for the final blow. What happened next though wasn't the wounded or near-dead Master he had been expecting to see, but instead out of the smoke U. Humongousaur came lunging out, having actually use the smoke from the Noble Phantasm's explosion to hide his approach. His arms were blackened with soot and scorched from the impact but his reinforced hide allowed him to keep the sense of mind to make his plan. The tactic certainly paid off as he captured Archer in his clutches and brought him up to his face with an incredibly deep scowl.

"The civilians stay out of this!" U. Humongousaur growled. "Remember that!"

With his message made, U. Humongousaur reared his arm back and actually _threw_ Archer away from the battle. The white-haired Servant sailed through the air in an uncontrolled sprawl before impacting against the ground, making a long trench into the ground before crashing into a tree, smashing the bark clean off the surface with his back.

"Archer!" Rin cried out.

"That has got to hurt," commented Shirou, wincing when he saw Archer getting thrown.

As U. Humungousar was fighting Archer, Avenger was taking out her rage about being unable to help her Master when he actually needed assistance out on Saber. The two female knights were once again clashing with each other. Saber had invoked her Invisible Air again so to hide the length of her sword from sight and gain an advantage. However, Avenger now had experience in taking on the invisible blade and had a somewhat better idea as to how long it was.

"How dare you stand by and do nothing while your allies use such dishonourable tactics!" Avenger shouted as she pressed her strength against her blade and Saber's. "And you call yourself a knight?"

"Were I the Master and not the Servant, I would agree," Saber grunted. "However, I am neither Archer's ally nor am I his Master. I have no say in his tactics. I am my Master's weapon and nothing more."

"Then you are a coward for hiding behind that reason," Avenger hissed.

The two swordswomen leaped away from each other before charging in for another clash of blades. Again the sparks flew before the pair separated and began slashing at one another. Both knights revealed their skills as the blades clashed again and again in showers of sparks. Avenger was fighting with the burning desire to avenge the wrong done to her Master as Archer plainly attacked from behind, something Avenger's honour would not permit to go unanswered. Saber was fighting with her own desire to win the Grail War, although her pride as a knight was demanding satisfaction for Avenger's insults while agreeing with her dislike for such dishonourable tactics.

Another slash and rain of sparks signalled the continuing fight as Avenger and Saber dashed past one another. From the one clash, Avenger's chest plate held a new dent which was held over her heart while Sabre's own chest armour sported a similar dent. Neither blow was outright lethal or even harmful, the defensive skill of both women allowing them to block the worst of the blows. However, it was also a testament to their skills that they managed to get past their opponent's defence by that much.

"I see your skills were not just luck," Saber frowned.

"And yours do not solely come from your sword," Avenger replied. "Ben told me about it. He knows the history behind it as well. So my only question to you Saber, is who are you and how are you able to wield such a sword? Were you the former owner's wife Guinevere? Or were you his half-sister Morganna?"

Saber flinched heavily at the name, her teeth clenching in a deep growl and anger seeping into her eyes. "Do not mention that witch's name in my presence!"

"Possibly Guinevere then," Avenger nodded, slowly turning to face the angry Saber. "But according to legend, she cheated on the owner of that sword with Lancelot of the Lake. Surely she of all people would not be worthy to wield such a holy sword. Perhaps you are a daughter of one of his knights? Perhaps even the daughter of one known as Sir Kay? My Master has regaled me of much concerning the man who held that sword. You may even be a distant relative who merely lucked into possessing it, carving your own legend. Or perhaps you are a thief who stole it from his tomb seeking to do good in the world and-"

"BE SILENT!" Saber screamed, swinging wide before her sword clashed against Avenger's both blades ringing from the impact as both women put their strength behind the blades. Saber was panting, her teeth set in a snarl and her eyes furious. "Do not speak of things you do not know! This blade is mine! It had always been mine! Do not dare assume that I have not earned this steel by anything less than from my own blood, sweat, and tears!"

Off to the sidelines as Rin fussed over Archer, Shirou watched his Servant for the first time since meeting her, lose her cool. "Saber?"

During all of the drama and violence, Illya had watched in fear as her new friend had taken a powerful strike to his shoulder before summoning his Servant to help. She would have sent Berserker to fight, but before she could give the order Humungousaur suddenly shifted to his Ultimate form, stunning Illya quite thoroughly. She watched as he fired missiles out of his knuckles and tried to shoot down Archer. She gasped in fright as Archer finally managed to get him again with one of those sword/arrows. However, U. Humongousaur came out of it with smoking arms before he grabbed Archer, threatened him, and then threw him away.

Illya glanced in the direction of where Archer landed and noticed Avenger and Saber fighting with both looking pretty mad. That fight came secondary though. What did catch her attention was the fact that a red-haired boy was poking his head out to watch the two knights fight while a girl in red was running over to see to Archer. Illya recognized the boy in a heartbeat, the reason why her papa abandoned her all those years ago. He was a Master just like the girl was and their Servants were occupied. This was her chance to advance in the War and get her revenge.

"Berserker! Their Masters are vulnerable! Crush them!" Illya snapped out, her face crinkled in rage.

Berserker roared and rushed towards the closest target, which just so happened to be Shirou. Shirou screamed as Berserker tore the tree out of the way and stood over him, jagged stone sword at the ready to crush Shirou to a pulp.

Saber looked up from her battle with Avenger to see Berserker's approach on her Master, "Shirou!"

Rin screamed, "Emiya-kun!"

Shirou shut his eyes, awaiting his death, when all of a sudden…

-BOOM!-

An explosion erupted from behind Berserker and all eyes turned towards the source to be none other than Ultimate Humongosaur with one of his Bio-Gatling cannons smoking after launching his projectile. "Leave the Masters alone," he growled at Berserker.

Illya, shocked and outraged, shouted, "Ben-niichan, what are you doing!"

"Illya, if you want Berserker to fight the other Servants then I won't stop you," U. Humungousaur spoke, keeping his weapon trained on the recovering Berserker. "They know what the stakes are for this and put everything on the line. Targeting the Masters just because it makes winning easier is where **I** draw the line! Most can't hold a candle to Servants and you know that!"

"Fuuuuuuu!" Illya growled, cheeks puffed. She really should have expected this. Ben was a very big hero over in America and he was known for not compromising on his values despite what that one guy Haran-something kept on saying. If she didn't want to burn her bridges with him, she knew she would have to hold off on getting revenge another day. On the other hand, when was she going to get another chance like this ever again? Not likely especially after tonight.

"Sorry Ben-niichan," Illya frowned. "As much as I want to be friends with you, that mean boy hurt me too much to let him live! Berserker!"

The gray-skinned Servant immediately went to action, charging once again for Shirou who was busy trying to scramble away. Saber broke away from her battle with Avenger in favour of charging at Berserker. Her eyes were filled with a measure of fear for her Master, more than a sense of duty to a Master would invoke. Berserker was close and already raising his weapon for another shot and pulping the boy. It seemed that Saber was not going to make it in time and thanks to God Hand, U. Humungousaur's bio missiles may not be effective enough to stop him.

"Shirou!" Saber screamed.

A flash of green covered the area.

-WHAM!-

Berserker suddenly vanished underneath an unbelievably large fist, the ground rumbling from the impact. Shirou, who was crabwalking in attempts to get away from Berserker found himself directly in front of the knuckle of the fist. His eyes wide and his mouth gaping, he looked up to see that the giant fist was connected to a giant arm with a red gauntlet. Said arm was connected to a red shoulder. The red shoulder was connected to a torso which had red covering across the top and a white abdomen and legs which were splashed with more red connected to said torso. The centre of the chest had a red covering which was pointed as it reached the waist with a familiar green marking in the centre of said chest. Finally, the chest was connected to a black neck and white face which sported green eyes, few features, and a large fin on top which was decorated with red. The picture became clear for Shirou, seeing a giant kneeling down who had apparently smashed Berserker underneath his fist.

"**Way Big!**" the giant alien rumbled out.

If Shirou weren't so stunned, he was pretty sure he would have wet himself from that close a call.

Sabre was stunned into stillness

Rin…

"ULTRAMAN TOO?" she screeched, her face conveying WTF perfectly.

Way Big looked down at his fist which buried Berserker. He could still feel Hercules buried underneath it and it felt like the big guy was beginning to recover. He'd probably in good enough shape to try and escape soon enough. Looking to Shirou (whom he easily recognized) and Rin, he spoke in a booming voice, "**This fight is now over! Take your Servants and go. I will not allow the Masters to be made targets simply because it's easier to win that way. You try it and you'll be meeting up with me VERY soon!**"

"Ah…ah…sure," Shirou nodded, getting to his feet. Looking to his Servant, he dashed over to the still gaping Saber and gently took her hand. Tugging her over to where Archer and Rin were, he helped the white-haired man up to his feet before the two magi helped him limp from the area. Saber dutifully watched the back, but she kept glancing back at Way Big in complete amazement. As they vanished past the edge of the park, Way Big heaved a sigh before slapping the symbol on his chest and vanishing into green light. As the light died, Ben Tennyson returned to his human form once again.

"Whew," he sighed. "Glad that's over."

But he wasn't out of the frying pan yet…

"Ben-niichaaaaaaan!" Illya's voice rang out.

Ben sighed and turned to see the albino girl stomping towards him. When she was close enough, she planted her balled fists on her hips and stared sternly at him with her cheeks puffed out. It was probably supposed to show how seriously angry she was, but the puffed out cheeks and the cat doll under her arm kind of ruined the image. "That was mean Ben-niichan! You took one of Berserker's lives with that move! I thought you were my friend!"

"I am Illya," Ben replied, trying to soothe the girl's temper. "But if you know anything about me then you know I'm not about to just sit by and let people get killed for this War simply because it's easier to win that way. The Servants are supposedly here to protect their Masters and fight for them. It's Servant vs. Servant so I'll let it stay that way unless innocent people start getting involved or a Master is attacked when their Servant isn't able to protect them. You should have known I wouldn't take the easy way for this."

Were Illya an adult when she tried to take out the Masters of Saber and Archer, Ben would have fought her just as hard as he did Archer and Caster's skeletons. Still, Illya was just a little girl not even in high school. Maybe it was Ben's optimistic (naïve) side talking to him, but he just couldn't up and give up Illya and peg her as one of the villains. Her family was pushing her to win the Grail no matter what the cost. Despite how easily she ordered Berserker to go for killing the Masters, she just held an aura of innocence and purity around her. He didn't want the albino girl to end up like one of the kinds of people he had to fight on a regular basis.

Illya huffed, still pouting. Despite her younger appearance, she could understand Ben's reasoning. It didn't mean that she had to like it, only that she could understand it. "I know…but it was still mean!"

"Maybe. But I'd do the same for you just as quick Illya," Ben retorted. "We're friends after all. Or at least I hope we still can be."

"I suppose," Illya sighed, smiling slightly knowing that Ben would protect her as fiercely as he did Shirou and Rin. Now if only she could get him to do that only for her and no one else… "Okay Ben-niichan, if you promise not to take any more of Berserker's lives and not mess up our fights on purpose, I promise not to attack other Masters." '_For now. I won't let that boy get away again!_' she amended mentally.

"Sounds good to me," Ben nodded with a grin.

"BUT!" Illya continued, crossing her arms and at least attempting to appear like an adult scolding a child. "As punishment for taking Berserker's life, you cannot hang out with me for three whole days! Understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" Ben saluted.

"Good!" Illya nodded before she turned around. "We're going home Berserker!"

A growl and a shuffle came up from the impact point Ben as Way Big created. Standing up amidst clouds of what was perhaps steam was Berserker. He didn't look any different and he certainly didn't look as if a giant had just smashed him like a bug on the road, but his eyes GLARED at Ben with an intensity only matched by the likes of Agreggor and Vilgax before the demi-god vanished into the air, becoming astralized. Ben barely withheld the sigh of relief he felt coming as he watched Illya leave the park. He may have found the girl adorable and certainly cute, but her intensity towards winning the War and her Servant were just plain scary.

"Well, I could use a smoothie after tonight," Ben groaned as he tried to stretch. However, a sharp sting in his shoulder prevented that certain movement. "Yow!"

"Ben? Are you still hurt?" asked Avenger with concern, reaching her Master so she could inspect him.

"I'm fine," Ben insisted. "Just a little stiff."

"I very much doubt that," Avenger frowned behind her helmet. "We're going back to the hotel so I can look at you properly. Whole portions of your shoulder were missing after Archer's attack if you recall. You can be certain I won't be leaving you alone tonight regardless of your condition."

"Oh come on Avenger!" Ben sighed. "I'm fine! Honest!"

"I will be the judge of that," Avenger frowned, activating her magic and changing to her civilian form. "Now back to the hotel! Now!"

"Yes ma'am," Ben sighed, beginning his long trek. He had a feeling that his Servant was not going to let this incident go for some time to come. Of course he had to wonder why he always found himself in the company of bossy women. Aside from aliens with bad attitudes, it seemed to be a pretty large constant in his life.

* * *

**Emiya Estate**

The situation was…tense, to say the last.

Rin was pacing back and forth, furiously pulling at her pigtails. Well, not literally, but she was frustrated and freaked out over the events from earlier. "Ultraman! Ultraman!" she shouted. "That guy can turn into a FREAKING GIANT!" If she thought the guy was a threat before, his threat level had just increased to reach the top of a skyscraper. "If he wanted to he could've stomped Saber and Archer flat, beating them both!"

"I have faced many opponents in my life, but nothing like that," Saber agreed. It was quite shocking.

Even Archer was quiet, arms crossed, wondering what exactly Avenger's Master was. He was still aching from his sudden flight courtesy of his green dinosaur form and impact with a tree. If he hadn't been sure before, Archer now knew that something like this had not occurred in his memories. That was a dangerous threat to his plans, making him wonder that if he wasn't in HIS Grail War, but some alternate version. That was probably the worst thing that could happen for his plans, if the shape shifting Master wasn't hard enough.

"Then why didn't he?" asked Shirou. "I mean, he could have turned into that form at any time and just squished us all. Instead, he only made you dizzy enough to drop out of the battle last time you saw him and he actually stopped Berserker from attacking us despite the fact they were supposed to be allies. He even threatened us not to attack other Masters to try and make winning the War easier."

"I KNOW! And it doesn't make sense!" Rin cried out, stomping her feet. "He has to know beating the Masters is the easiest way to eliminate a Servant! With that giant form of his it'd be as easy as taking a step!"

"If he knows how easy it is to win, then surely he must know the need for secrecy," Saber commented. "Using that form is a huge risk. Thankfully, he was kneeling down and gaining a lot of tree cover while anyone else in the area was unconscious. If anyone saw it from outside, it will only be considered delusion on part of that person. The damage in the area will likewise be attributed to what people have been called 'gas leaks' and such. I don't think he will be using that form again."

"Well, at least that's some good news," Rin sighed, rubbing her forehead. "The question is, how do we beat someone like that? It's like he's got the perfect form for any situation he's in. If he needs a new form, he can just switch to something else."

"I can tell you that much," Archer sighed. "If you haven't noticed by now, every time he transforms he has to touch that hourglass symbol on his chest. It's present on all of his forms. I think that's the trigger mechanism for his transformations. I noticed him fiddle with it a little when he used that evolution technique too."

"So we have a weak point then?" Rin began to grin. "All right!"

"Now we need but to exploit it and then we can win," Saber nodded, her face turning rather dark. "Without the advantages her Master gives, Avenger will be much simpler to defeat."

Shirou watched his friend and Servant strategize and he had to admit that the logic was sound. Still, he had to admit that something didn't feel right. He didn't get that much of a bad feeling from the shape shifter beyond shock at seeing him change. Seeing him in action, Shirou had to admit that he and the mysterious Master seemed to share common qualities. Seeing him react to Avenger's wounds at the school mirrored Shirou's own towards Saber. The shape shifter only had the ability to get to his Servant sooner. Shirou had also seen how the strange Master refused to shoot at Archer while the Servant was standing in front of those unconscious people. Seeing how the Master reacted to certain situations, Shirou admitted that he would have acted the same way.

There had to be more to this Master than just what Rin, Archer, and Saber saw.

* * *

**Miyama—Ryudou Shrine**

Caster bit her lip as she reviewed what she witnessed of the battle between Avenger, Saber, Archer, and Berserker. The result was far from what she had been hoping for. Instead, no Servant had died save for Berserker and he had eleven more lives to work with before he could be called defeated. She had managed to see more forms from Avenger's Master, but that titan of a form he used to crush Berserker was NOT what she was expecting to see. She no doubt knew that the boy would be capable of using it again, although if it would be as effective on Berserker thanks to his Noble Phantasm had yet to be seen. Still, that was just one of the boy's forms. Who knew what other bodies and powers he had at his disposal?

She did hear his speech of how he will not allow the Masters to be targeted in the course of the War. That offered her a portion of relief. If what he said was true then her own beloved Master would be safe from his power and that of his Servant. Still, that kind of power being used against her would not prove to be helpful in her efforts to win the Grail. If only there was some way to convince the boy to stay out of her way or even join her side…

A sudden idea gave the Servant pause. "Hmmm…that might work," she pondered. She hadn't considered that course of action with the other Masters since some were women or were men that were greedy or likely biased against her already. Still, considering the actions of Avenger's Master… Yes, yes it could work. The execution would have to be carefully planned and her actions precise, but it could work.

"After all," she purred. "What young man could deny an attractive damsel in distress?"

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

"Avenger, I told you I'm fine!" Ben cried out as he and his Servant entered the hotel suite.

"And I said I'll be the judge of that," Avenger retorted, making sure that her Master didn't do anything reckless to aggravate a possible injury. "Now sit down on the couch and take off your jacket. I'll check the wound and we can go from there."

Ben obeyed, knowing that Avenger wasn't going to let him get away for anything. Since she was a hero herself, Avenger probably played off injuries to herself in the past before. That would explain why none of Ben's excuses or playing off the wound he took as something negligible. So with some annoyance, he sat down on the couch and stripped off his trademark green jacket, leaving him in just his black t-shirt. He winced slightly thanks to another jolt from his shoulder. It seemed like Archer's attack wasn't going to let him forget for some time.

"You should have called me sooner Ben," Avenger sighed as she came back with Ben's first-aid kit. Taking a seat next to him, she rolled up his sleeve to where Archer had blown a significant amount of meat off while he was Humungousaur. Ben quickly found the section quite sensitive and Avenger's eyes narrowed when she saw that his entire shoulder was raw and red.

"You are lucky your evolution ability healed the wound," Avenger sighed. "Still, this might need some ice and I would not let even the poorest of soldiers try to sleep on it."

"Perfect," Ben sighed as Avenger got up to retrieve some ice from the fridge.

"Just what were you doing alone there Master?" asked Avenger as she scooped handfuls of ice into a cloth to use as an ice pack.

"Well," Ben sighed. "I ran into Illya in the park and she wanted to make an alliance with me. I didn't make any promises and we ended up talking and hanging out. It was getting dark when we were winding down so I was going to walk her home but then we get jumped by Caster and then she calls a mob of demented skeletons on us both. So me and Berserker started busting heads when Caster disappears and instead Archer and Saber show up. Archer took a pot shot at me and you know the rest."

"Yes," Avenger nodded. "I heard the order as clear as day. I was terrified. Did you at least learn anything from Berserker's Master?"

"I got Berserker's name," Ben replied, making Avenger gape at her Master. "Illya told me that he was the greatest of the Greek heroes. She told me herself that he's Hercules. The son of Zeus and probably one the most well-known heroes I can think of."

"Are you certain?" asked Avenger, bringing the ice pack and pressing it against Ben's raw shoulder. "Could she be lying?"

"Don't see why she would," Ben shrugged. "I mean, Hercules in myth was all but invincible. Not much of anything could take him down. I'd sure be as confident as she would be if someone like him was fighting in my corner."

"Undoubtedly," Avenger agreed. While she wasn't herself quite familiar with the legend of Hercules, she could guess his strength from personal experience. "Did you learn anything else?"

"Saber's Master is named Shirou Emiya," Ben sighed. "I ran into him earlier and recognized him when I smashed Berserker as Way Big. I'm pretty sure I saw him at the school when I fought Rider too, although I wasn't paying too much attention to him to be honest."

"Does he know who you are then?" Avenger asked.

"I don't think so. He didn't see me change from human to alien form so I doubt he knows it's me," said Ben certainly.

* * *

**Emiya Estate**

The war council which was Emiya, Tohsaka, Archer, and Saber was going on strong. All four were conversing as to how best to deal with the shape-shifting Master who controlled Avenger. Having him apparently teaming up with Berserker would be a disaster for all of the other Masters. However, what the heck was Caster doing there in the first place when she hadn't been seen even once since the Grail War really began? Shirou offered insights now and again while the others made ideas as to how best exploit the one weakness and seem to find more. Despite seeing Rin and Archer as enemies in the first place and knowing they would be enemies later, Saber seemed to be able to causally strategize with Rin.

"So is there anything else?" asked Saber.

"I recall Berserker's Master calling that shape shifter by another name," said Archer. "Ben."

"What?" Shirou blinked. "When did you hear that?"

"It was after he shot Berserker from behind," the red-clad Servant answered. "You were too busy being scared of that psycho coming after you. I constantly Reinforce my senses, especially when I get wounded. Wounds would just hamper them and paying attention to the battlefield is crucial."

"Hmmm," Saber frowned, looking over at Rin. "Didn't you say you saw him as a human that day at the church?"

"Yeah," Rin nodded, her eyes dawning in realization. "He was a teenager with brown hair. He wore a green jacket and jeans too. Probably the most noticeable thing about him was that he looked American too."

"…American?" Shirou blinked, suddenly feeling pale.

"Yeah," Rin nodded. "You don't like Americans or something Emiya-kun?"

On one hand, telling Rin and Archer he'd met someone matching that description would probably be bad. He didn't think Ben was all that bad a person since he protected him from being smashed by Berserker. On the other hand though, what would Ben do with the Grail? He already had so much power. Then again, maybe he could tell Rin and Archer and maybe they could form an alliance…

…when Hell freezes over.

Rin was the type to hold a grudge and she was in this War for her own reasons. She was only allied with Shirou because he was a novice and was too nice so he was unlikely to stab her in the back. To her anyone could be a threat, especially Ben.

"No, it's not that," Shirou denied. "It's just that I'm surprised people come from as far away as America to take part in this."

Shirou thought he had played off his surprise well enough, but Saber and Archer both were looking at him with narrowed eyes. Both were Heroic Spirits and were probably used to people trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Pointing out lies was probably close to second nature to them. However, Rin on the other had seemed to have taken his words at face value and seemed to huff out in annoyance while crossing her arms.

"Emiya-kun, you are so clueless," Rin sighed. She instantly moved into one of her increasingly infamous lecturing positions and began to explain the Holy Grail War and the knowledge of it that has spread across several countries if not all over the world. Shirou leaned back and just allowed the information to wash over him while Saber and Archer merely continued to look at him with slightly suspicious eyes. The redhead wasn't entirely sure if he could stand being stared at for so long.

-WHAM!-

"Shiiiiiiiirooooooouuuuuu-chaaaaaaaaaaaan!" a woman's voice called/whined from the front door of the Emiya house, signalling the returned of Taiga Fujimura. "I'm huuuuuuuuuungryyyyyyyyyyy!"

'_Fuji-nee saves the day,_' Shirou thought as his surrogate big sister came home late once again due to having to help with getting the school back into respectable order, especially the Archery Club which she was so passionate about. Thankfully Shirou had thought ahead to save dinner for he lest he face the wrath of her Torashinai or some obscure wrestling move she knew. Getting up, he headed to meet her and prevent her from meeting Archer. "Coming Fuji-nee. I have something in the fridge for you. I'll heat it up."

"Oh my hero!" Taiga's voice squealed in excitement.

"Tsk! I swear that woman is a complete slob one minute and a responsible teacher the next," Rin huffed. "Maybe she's bipolar or something."

Archer snorted with a grin at the comment.

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Suite**

Avenger was busy having a bath, allowing Ben some measure of peace from her henpecking. It was definitely not something he expected from an Epic Hero but then again one doesn't always hear about the kinds of people legends were beyond how brave they were in doing whatever they did. He could guess that he was lucky that he had received a Servant that cared so much about his well-beyond as a person rather than just a source of mana and such.

Ben was taking the momentary distraction from Avenger's care, reading the book about the Servants. He was flipping through the pages before he came across the image of Caster in her robed magical glory. As expected, her Master's name and her own true name were not present on the page with her statistics. Her Class Skills remained unclear while her Personal Sills only sported one entry which was called High-Speed Divine Words (A). As near as Ben could figure, it had something to do with spell casting. He'd have to ask Avenger when he got the chance, but as best as he could figure it was something to do with being able to cast spells faster than normal mages could. Her general stats only gave her Mana (A+) which was more or less a given considering her class. Of course her Noble Phantasms weren't revealed either.

"She managed to see me and Berserker at work and revealed next to nothing about herself," Ben frowned as he read the book. "Crafty."

"Ben," Avenger's voice rang out, snapping Ben up from his musings on Caster's abilities. Looking up from the book, Ben blinked in surprise at seeing Avenger walk out from the bathroom but that slight surprise turned into shock as he saw what Avenger was wearing. She was donned from head to toe in white pyjamas which were simple enough, but what was snagging Ben's attention so thoroughly was the fact that having just coming out of the bath, the night clothes were clinging slightly to her figure. Ben had forgotten in the midst of several battles of just how attractive Avenger was besides her facial features and now it was being made quite apparent. Her hair was still damp and unbound and she was towelling it.

'_Score Tennyson,_' Ben heard Kevin's voice echo in his mind.

'_Ben! Stop staring at her like a dweeb!_' Gwen's voice snapped alongside Kevin's.

"Ben, are you coming to bed?" she asked patiently, finishing with her hair.

"W-what?" Ben blinked, stupefied.

"If you think I am going to leave you alone while you are not at your best, then you are very much mistaken," Avenger frowned with a raised eyebrow. Padding across the floor on her bare feet, she took the book of information from Ben's hands and set it down before taking his hand and pulling him to his feet. "Now we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and you need your rest to let your shoulder recover. Don't worry, I am a light sleeper so I will be able to keep a silent vigil."

"Huh?" Ben gaped, not really in the proper state of mind to offer much resistance. "But! But! But…I…wha…"

"It is no difficulty," Avenger reassured her Master. "The beds are quite large so they can comfortably hold us both."

"But-!"

* * *

**Unknown Location**

Bazett Fraga McRemitz knew she was a dead woman and that it wouldn't be long now. The Irish woman had come a long way to Fuyuki City as a representative of the Mage's Association for the Holy Grail War. She had been personally invited to compete by the mediator himself! While the Mage's Association sent her with the intent of having her secure the Grail and possibly learn how to access Akasha for whatever purposes they had in mind, Bazett had a more personal goal in mind for when she won.

Growing up hadn't been easy for Bazett back in Ireland. She grew up lonely often because her family focused on their magical prowess rather than being an actual family and as such, she often only had books to be her company. From those books she learned many things, but held many heroes and loves which helped her through some of her more troubling times. One tale above all else she loved as well as loved the one it was centered on. Cu Chulainn, the Hound of Culann. He was her absolute hero and back when she was a child, her first love. She knew his legend by heart even though the ending would always make her cry in her younger days.

As a hunter for the Mage's Association, Bazett was privy to all sorts of information and the Holy Grail War or Heaven's Feel was one of those things. She knew about the Servants, the Command Mantras, all of the rules. When the mediator invited her to participate, she already knew who she would summon to be her Servant. So she prepared herself in earnest. It had taken some time, effort, and many false leads, but she had managed to obtain one of Cu Chulainn's earrings from an antique shop that obviously didn't know what it had. She wore it proudly and even had a double made so to have a complete set.

Arriving in Fuyuki as the Grail War was set to begin, Bazett didn't waste any time. She wanted to be the first to summon her Servant lest someone else take his position before she had the chance to bring him to her. In her workshop, using the earring as a reagent she began the summoning ritual which she had memorized by heart. It had only taken a few moments, but it felt like an eternity to her. When the ritual was completed, she was staring at her beloved hero in the flesh. Her inner child was squealing in excitement at seeing him were her own two eyes. Best of all, the pair got along great! Their eagerness for battle in the Grail War proved to be a great friendship starter.

Bazett's naughtier side even had her consider the lesser known means of recharging her Servant if their positive relationship continued to grow.

However, that was when she was suddenly stabbed in the back right before her Lancer's shocked eyes. Before he could try and fight back to protect her, Bazett's arm was chopped off and her Command Mantras transferred to the one who had stabbed her. Lancer was unable to help her after that and forced to leave her to rot with a very great amount of reluctance if his cursing and swearing were any indication. In a flurry to try and survive, Bazett had slapped a preservation rune on the stump where her arm used to be to stop the blood flow. However, she had already lost too much blood to function properly and was on the brink of passing out, laying on the floor of her workshop. She couldn't even use her mana since the rune she used was constantly draining it. With her loopy mind, she couldn't even concentrate enough to segment some mana off to heal herself. She was dead already, just lingering on last vestiges of life.

She only wanted to save her hero…

How long had it been since that day? Days? Weeks? Bazett lost the ability to tell time with her mind as fogged as it was. All she knew that she was dead and waiting for the afterlife to begin. However, she couldn't help but be a little afraid. She hadn't been a saint her whole life and had done several things which she considered bad and she wasn't proud of herself for doing them. Sealing Designations by the Mage's Association were harsh and anyone who had one certainly didn't go without a fight. So because of this and how she would usually fight the targets, she feared slightly that she was going to be punished with hell for her sins. Still, she could hope…

Starling listlessly into space, her eyesight was quite suddenly filled with blue light. The light made her think that perhaps hell wasn't in her future and instead she had been found worthy of passing into heaven after all. The light dimmed and she could see the form of a man stepping out of the light before it dimmed. Ah, so an angel had been sent to retrieve her rather than letting the light guide her soul? She could accept that. She listlessly watched as the angel approached her before kneeling down at her side.

"Right on time," the angel spoke softly. "Good. Not to worry Ms. McRemitz. All will be well. It just takes the proper timing."

Reaching into his pocket, the angel produced something, but with her fuzzy vision she couldn't see it all that well. The angel held it out in the palm of his hand before opening it. From within the device, a blue light began to shine before it enveloped everything. Bazet watched in awe as she prepared to be taken to the afterlife…

Only to stumble along the dirt path of one of the local parks in Fuyuki City.

"Wha-what?" Bazett gasped. Her vision was no longer blurry and her mind felt as sharp as ever before her attack. She felt perfectly fit and much to her eternal shock, she even had her arm back! She gripped the limb and clenched it several times to be absolutely certain that her left arm was back where it belonged. "What…what is this? Was I taken to heaven?"

"Not quite, although I do know of several places which come close," a mature male voice spoke up from behind the shocked Irish woman.

Bazett whirled around to see who had spoken to her. She found herself looking at what seemed to be a kind gentleman who wore a red vest and black tie underneath a white lab coat with black trousers. He had short brown hair and spoke with a light English accent. While Bazett had nothing against the English despite her Irish roots, older members of her family certainly did and thus she really hadn't been able to meet anyone foreign until she joined up with the Mage's Association. She did wonder why he was wearing a pair of green goggles around his neck.

"No need to be frightened Ms. McRemitz," the man reassured her with a friendly smile. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a bag which she recalled candy stores in her youth would hand out with their sales. "I'm no enemy of yours. Gumball? I find they soothe the nerves."

"Um…no thank you," Bazet replied hesitatingly. What an odd man. "Who are you? What happened to me?"

"You can call me Professor Paradox," the man smiled, taking a gumball for himself before replacing the bag in his jacket. "I'm rather partial to the name actually. As for what happened to you, well quite a number of things happened to you in recent times. If you are referring to what I had done though, I merely nudged the space time continuum to help you out in a moment of need."

"Space time…" Bazet blinked before her eyes bolted open in shock. "Are you saying you can control time?"

"Control time? Oh heavens no," the man chuckled as if told quite an amusing joke. "No one can control time. No, I merely know what paths to take and what rules to bend so that a particular outcome or destination can be reached. In this case, restoring you back to the way you were the moment before you were attacked. Right now it has been over a week and a few days since that unfortunate incident. The Holy Grail War is in full swing and already many innocent people have died already, many by Lancer's hand."

"Lancer?" Bazett paled. Lancer, her hero Cu Chulainn was killing innocent people? "No, no! Lancer would never do that!"

"Oh he's not doing it by choice I assure you," Paradox explained, quite calm in the face of Bazett's growing rage. "I've met Cu Chulainn personally and he's quite the honourable fellow. He'd never harm someone who couldn't fight back." Paradox sighed in regret. "No, it's because that unscrupulous fellow whom attacked you just can't produce the mana needed to maintain Cu, I mean Lancer's needs. So to compensate he sends out Lancer to harvest mana from the masses lest he simply fade away again."

Bazett was reasonably stunned by how casually Paradox revealed that he knew her…former Servant's name. He knew Cu Chulainn personally? That was impossible! Cu Chulainn lived hundreds of years ago if not further back! The only way Paradox would know Lancer personally was if he had been hiding out as a regular civilian and according to Paradox, that murderous scumbag who stole Lancer from her wasn't allowing that.

"That's part of the reason why I intervened to assist you," Paradox explained. "With you back to full health and restored, Lancer will now be receiving mana from you and since your magic is much stronger than your would-be killer's, Lancer will no longer need to harvest mana from innocent people."

"Aye true, but you're forgetting that my Command Spells were stolen when my arm was severed," Bazett retorted, still upset that some scumbag was using her hero to murder innocent people just because he wasn't even a competent enough mage to maintain a Servant on his own.

"Were they?" Paradox asked with a raised eyebrow of false curiosity. "I'd check that claim if I were you."

Frowning, Bazett reached to her left hand and removed the glove which she had inscribed with runes so to help increase the power of her attacks. She had anticipated seeing only bare skin of her hand, but to her great shock, she instead found herself looking at the double sided Fragarach-like markings which had marked her as the Master of Lancer! Gasping, Bazett looked from her hand to Paradox and back to her hand again several times, trying to bring up the words needed to ask for information.

"I said I had restored you to the way you were before you were attacked," Paradox smiled. "That includes possession of the Command Spells."

"So…I am Lancer's Master now?" asked Bazett.

"Well, you are one of two Masters of Lancer," Paradox explained. "Both your Command Spells and the ones in possession of your attacker have the ability to force Lancer to follow your orders. However, to claim sole Mastery over Lancer you are going to need several factors in order to do that. If or when you find Lancer in the midst of a task, you must give him an order. First it will tell him that you are in fact alive and secondly it will clash against the order your attacker gave him. What will happen next will be decided by how strong your willpower and that of your enemy is, your magical power, your Authority, most importantly of all who Lancer wishes to serve more. When the choice is made, the Command Spells of the loser will vanish, granting the winner sole Mastery of Lancer."

"I know Lancer will choose me," Bazett frowned, clenching her left fist tightly. "We were already bonding when I first summoned him. You already told me my magic is stronger and I came into the Grail War bound and determined to see it through not for me, but to rescue my hero from his fate. I fight to do justice for his legend."

"Which is another reason why I chose to help you," Paradox smiled. "Your sense of justice is very strong and something that will be needed in the times to come."

"Very well," Bazett nodded. "Paradox, is there anything you can tell me about the Grail War that I need to know right now?"

"I was just about to say as much," the professor smiled. "While I can't give away too many spoilers I will advise to keep an eye out for the Masters of Saber and Avenger. Once those two begin working together, many things are going to happen."

"Saber and Avenger," Bazett pondered as she looked out over to the city scenery. However, that's when the words reached her and she found something off. "Wait, Avenger?" She turned back to ask just what the heck Paradox was talking about only to find the strange man missing. "Paradox?"

The English-speaking gentleman was nowhere in sight, leaving Bazett confused, but feeling rather hopeful, a far cry better than what she had been like for a week and a few days.

* * *

**To Be Continued…**

A/N: Well, chapter three is complete. Ben and Illya become friends and agree to a sort of cease fire...for now At the same time Paradox reveals his hand and Caster likewise makes her own schemes. How will things turn out?

Before anyone snaps at me about me using Way Big on Berserker, it was a one-time only thing. Way Bit probably won't be able to rake up another kill with just raw power alone if there is a next time. Grevious and crippling injuries which can keep him out of a fight for a while, but outright kill him? Not without using one of his other abilities. Also, why use Way Big instead of something else to stop Berserker from attacking Shirou? Well, is there a guarantee that anything less than Way Big can stop Berserker cold rather than slow him down or distract him for a moment?

Besides, I really, really wanted to see Berserker get smashed by Way Big.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Fate/Stay Night or Ben 10. They belong to their respective creators and not me. So don't go about trying to sue me for copyright infringements. If you don't like what you see then don't read it. I'm not forcing you to. For those of you who do enjoy the story, please enjoy and thank-you for your support.

Fate/Stay Night: Ultimate Master

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 4: War in the Moonlight

'_How did this happen?_'

Ben was staring up at the ceiling of his room as he tried not to let himself get distracted by the woman that was sleeping next to him. He tried to ignore the scent of her hair since her head was so close to his. He wanted to not think about the warmth of her body. He especially didn't even want to entertain the idea of how her body felt pressed up against his. Trying not to think about all of the things which proved that Avenger was nothing if not a prime example of femininity was pretty hard. Despite her claims that she was a Servant first and a woman second, Ben was having a difficult time trying to think of her that way. He just desperately hoped that Kevin and Gwen never found out. Neither would never let him hear the end of it, but Kevin would be teasing him while Gwen would be scolding him and in all honesty, Ben found Gwen to be scarier than Kevin could ever be even when he became that hybrid of the Ultimatrix aliens.

When Ben finally got some sleep, he awoke to find the sun hanging lazily over the horizon and Avenger snoozing softly. The blonde looked incredibly peaceful in her sleep, a far cry from her usual serious or professional looks. Ben knew he wasn't going to get more sleep now that he was awake with the sun peeking through the window, but he didn't want to wake Avenger either. She looked like she was truly relaxed for a change and he didn't want to ruin it for her. So, he gently tried to remove himself from her grip as slowly as possible.

"Nnn," the woman moaned softly as Ben disrupted her stillness.

'_Don't wake up, don't wake up,_' Ben silently prayed.

Slowly extracting himself from Avenger's arms without waking the blonde, Ben quickly exited the room to claim his clothes for the day. His shoulder was feeling much better from the previous night so it wasn't giving him any troubles. Thankfully the evolution option that Albedo put into the Ultimatrix healed the damage, even if it was probably unintended at the time he made it. Still, unintended or not it helped out Ben big time or else he would have been missing the majority of his shoulder if not lose his arm to Archer.

Snagging a quick shower and dressing, Ben decided that he didn't want to risk waking Avenger with noise in the kitchen or room service banging on his door. So he opted to eat out that morning. He still had the Ultimatrix and two Command Seals left so he was pretty sure that everything would be okay. So, pulling his jacket over his shoulders Ben wrote a short note before heading out the door.

* * *

**Matou Estate**

Zouken watched all of thee Masters through the eyes of his familiars, making strategies and plans now that he was completely immersed into the war with his servant True Assassin. The leader of the Hashashin waited silently and patiently just behind and to the left of the elderly magus. He naturally blended into the shadows even without using his Presence Concealment skill. To the untrained eye, the only way you could tell if the man was there or not was by the skull mask he wore.

Zouken's familiars were spread all over the area, eyeing all of the Masters so naturally he had caught sight of the battle in the park. It was quite obvious to the old man's eyes that Caster had purposefully lured Saber and Archer there by sloppily concealing her magical signature for the Tohsaka heir to trace. She had likely intended Berserker and the Master of Avenger to do battle with Saber and Archer with the hope they would eliminate each other. It was quite obvious that the plan didn't quite work out either.

He had seen how the boy had turned against his supposed ally Berserker so to prevent the deaths of the Masters. Ludicrous in Zouken's opinion. Obviously the boy didn't know what was at stake in the Grail War. Still, since the boy refused to go the distance it meant that he had a weakness which could be exploited, weakness which would be needed if the boy decided to transform into that giant again. Unless one summoned Goliath as a Servant or possessed and particularly potent Noble Phantasm then it would be child's play for the monster to strike down all seven Servants in one fell swoop. That made the boy a particularly potent threat and one that would have to be dealt with, swiftly.

"Assassin," Zouken spoke. Hassan-I-Sabbah's head perked slightly to indicate that he was listening. "This boy in green. He is your target. Follow him. Observe him. Then when the moment is right, strike him down. Show me why you were chosen as one of the 19 leaders of your clan."

"Your will be done," True Assassin nodded before he vanished into the shadows, his bone-white mask even vanishing.

* * *

**Shinto—Streetside Café**

Ben calmly looked over a menu at a small café he managed to discover in his attempts to find something for breakfast. So far everything looked appetizing, but he wasn't sure what to pick. Half of the stuff was more or less pastries while the rest wasn't what he considered to be a perfectly filling breakfast, being composed of mostly toast and coffee with something else thrown in for variety. Still, he could probably order refills or something if he was lucky or just get a pair of items.

It was during his fifth glance over the menu that someone began speaking to him, "Is this seat taken?"

Ben looked up…and he lost his ability to think for a moment. Standing in front of him was an admittedly gorgeous woman. Her face looked absolutely perfect, no visible flaws whatsoever. Her hair, blue of all colours cascaded down to her shoulders with a braid tied at the back. Her eyes were a pretty shade of blue mixed with purple, almost hypnotising in their intensity. She was wearing a simple black blouse which had a fashionable knot near her right hip and wore a denim jacket over it. Completing the ensemble was a brown skirt which reached down to her ankles with large buttons obviously helping hold it up rather than a hidden zipper.

"Uhh…," Ben blinked. "…N-no. Take it if you like."

"Thank-you," the woman smiled. Rather than take the chair like he assumed she was going to do, she instead sat herself down. As she did so, she brushed some of the hair from her face and actually revealed that her ear was pointed rather than rounded like a regular person's. Ben quietly wondered if this woman had any alien heritage due to the unusual ear-shape. As he continued to examine her though, he got the sudden feeling of déjà vu, like he had met her before but he would probably remember a gorgeous woman like this at first glance. Who was she and why was she acting so casual?

The waitress from before who'd given Ben his menu came over when she saw the new customer and handed her a menu. The woman gave the waitress a smile and a nod before the waitress asked Ben if he was ready to order.

"No," he answered. The waitress told him she would return once he was ready. His eyes went towards the woman who was looking over the menu critically. "Um…excuse me…but who are you?" Ben asked.

"Oh, have you forgotten?" the woman said, frowning, looking rather upset. "Have you forgotten about the skeleton party I had for you?"

Ben's eyes widened in realization. '_Caster!_' What was Caster doing out in public like this, with all these people around?

"I see you finally recognise me, Master of Avenger," said Caster, smiling.

"What do you want?" asked Ben. He hoped that Caster wasn't in the mood to fight. There were too many innocent people around and since she was a legendary hero who wielded magic, she probably had a few tricks up her sleeve that would allow her to do battle with him in broad daylight. Ben had seen his more magically inclined enemies pull off things he could only do in his alien forms, and then some things he could only do as Alien X. It was already painfully obvious that Caster was leagues above Hex, Charmcaster, and quite possibly even Adwaita.

"To talk," Caster replied, setting down her menu.

"You didn't make too good of an impression of yourself last night," Ben replied.

"I don't suppose I did," Caster nodded. "But I wanted to truly kill either of you then, I have many more potent spells than to just summon my little toys to attack you."

"Then why come at us?"

"I admit…I maybe panicked," Caster answered, actually looking sheepish. "Surely by now you know of some of Berserker's abilities. His Noble Phantasm alone makes him a substantial threat to everyone. Your own abilities along with the mysterious Servant Avenger you possess makes you a not so inconsiderable threat too. Seeing you and the Master of Berserker getting along and her offering an alliance…I 'jumped the gun' so to speak."

"So, because you 'jumped the gun' you wanted to kill me," Ben reasoned. "Yeah, really nice."

"So, I wanted to talk to you so I may explain myself," said Caster.

Ben crossed his arms and Caster's eyes went to the Ultimatrix which was barely hidden by his jacket's sleeve. "Go on," he prompted.

"All I want, all I really want, is to live in peace with the man I love," she told him bluntly.

Ben cocked an eyebrow. That really wasn't something he expected to hear.

"Life has not been easy for me before or after I became a Heroic Spirit," Caster explained. "Back when my legend began, I was someone of high authority. My father was the one who taught me magic and I excelled at it. My home was prosperous, I was someone of importance, and everyone respected me."

"So what happened?" asked Ben.

"One day, a stranger and his ship of men arrived. They were after a special relic that my family had in its possession, but my father absolutely refused to give it up knowing the prestige and honour that came with holding such an item," Caster explained. "He was so handsome, so…incredible in so many ways." She shook her head ruefully. "I was in love at first sight with him. He told me that he needed to gain the relic or else many people were going to suffer. Seeing that my father was not going to let him so much as see the relic, I used my magic to remove its protections so that man could take it. He even took me with him when they left, knowing that I would not be safe back in my own home thanks to my actions."

"Sounds like quite a guy," Ben commented.

"In my eyes, he was the perfect man," Caster sighed. "When we returned to his homeland, I discovered that he was in fact royalty and need our relic to help restore him to the throne. Again, I used my magic to help him in his quest. In the end, we succeeded and he was restored to the throne. He even promised to marry me and make me his queen."

"Sounds like a fairy tale come to life," Ben spoke up. He honestly didn't see where Caster was going with this story, but he let her continue. A moment longer of talking meant a moment less at fighting.

"It does seem that way," Caster nodded. Her eyes then turned down as dark memories came to her. "That was when it all fell apart."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after several years and I had given birth to two children for him I discovered him plotting behind my back," Caster frowned. "He was participating in a political alliance with another kingdom which was to be sealed with a marriage to the king's daughter." Caster's eyes turned dark. "He promised to marry me, I did many dark acts I am ashamed of for him, I bore two children for him, and he turns his back on me to marry some other woman he's never met just for political power."

Ben grimaced, somewhat understanding why Caster was a heroic spirit, helping restore a kingdom to a prince whom had it all taken away from him but to suddenly get the shaft like that? That just wasn't right, "So what happened next?"

"I admit I…didn't take the news so well," Caster replied. Well, that was a pretty big understatement for those who knew her legend. "I'm not proud of what I did after even if I did feel vindicated afterwards. Suffice to say, I burned a lot of bridges and had to flee for my life." She sighed again. "But it seemed the gods were not fond of me. I eventually found friends and loves, but none of them lasted. Either communities turned on them or I was betrayed. Eventually I was forced to return home with my son from another marriage. However, I found no relief there. My uncle had become the head of the family. In his lust for power, he imprisoned my son since he had a stronger claim, being the direct lineage of my father whereas my uncle hadn't even taken a wife to produce an heir yet. Since I was considered a criminal by many, I offered myself to be executed for his freedom."

"What?" Ben gasped.

"For my son's life, it was an easy choice," Caster replied. "However, I did not go into it dutifully. Before I died, I cast one final spell which ended my uncle's life and cleared the way for my son's inheritance. I died shortly after he did."

Ben was struck speechless at the tale.

"Are you two ready to order?"

Ben blinked and noticed that the waitress had returned while he was busy being enraptured by Caster's tale.

"Green tea please," Caster smiled.

"Uh…orange juice and toast please," Ben sputtered, trying to bring his mind back to the present.

"Coming right up!" the perky waitress smiled as she took the order before leaving, taking the menus with her.

"Now, where was I?" asked Caster rhetorically.

* * *

**Miyama—Emiya Estate**

Shirou once again was subjected to the breakfast hijinks of his friends as they all came to enjoy Sakura's cooking. The purple-haired girl had come over like clockwork and put her cooking skills to use and made breakfast for Shirou, Rin, and Saber. Taiga likewise appeared again, still very depressed over the damage done to the archery range and the school wasn't able to get an estimate on the damage since the investigation into the 'gas leak' was still ongoing. So the excitable teacher demanded extra shares and ate so much her cheeks became puffy. Of course, she had to fight with Saber over certain portions since the petite blonde was still eating her own weight in food. Rin calmly took the scene in, not wanting to get caught in the chaos while Sakura kept glancing insecurely at both her and Saber while they sat so close to Shirou.

"I don't see why I have to keep going to school. It's closed right now," Taiga mumbled over a mouthful of food. She was so depressed she wasn't even going with her usual spiel about Rin living under the same roof as him anymore. "But I still have to go in and do paperwork. It's not fair. My precious archery club…their skills will go rusty..."

"Sensei…ganbatte," Sakura offered weakly, trying to raise her teachers spirits if only lightly.

"Come on Fuji-nee," Shirou sweatdropped. "The school will open soon enough and you can have a big training session to get everyone back on track."

"I suppose," Taiga sighed, her mouth half filled by rice. Glancing down at her watch, she sighed. "I'd better get going."

Her cheeks still puffy from being filled with food, Taiga stood up and headed for the door, still in a depressed and lethargic daze.

Saber casually ignored the woman's departure as well as Sakura who mentioned something about having errands to run. Rin finished her own meal and headed to put her dishes away. Shirou went to clean the dishes, something he usually dealt with since Sakura was the one who made breakfast.

Saber's mind was instead trained on what she knew of the Grail War thus far. She didn't have to worry about archer for the time being since their Masters were in an alliance. Berserker was quite an obvious threat considering how powerful he was strength-wise. There was still the unknown Servant up at Ryuudou Temple which needed to be explored provided if Rider's Master was telling the truth and considering how Rin spoke of the boy's character and Shirou's reluctance to stop her from fighting Rider then it may not have as much weight as she once thought. There was also Avenger and her shape-shifting Master to consider. There were too many threats to consider at the time and they needed to either be nullified or removed. However, Shirou's reluctance to let her get hurt was inhibiting her actions. How was she to fight for him and claim the Grail if he wasn't going to allow her to fight? His naïve state if mind was going to get him torn apart by the other Masters if he didn't change soon.

Perhaps it was time to take action into her own hands.

* * *

**Shinto—Streetside café**

Ben and Caster were simply enjoying their respective drinks as they took a moment for Ben to digest the extremely edited tale of Caster's legend. It didn't tell him anything about who she was or what she was capable of. Edited as it was though, Ben could tell that it was a pretty epic story in itself.

"Not to belittle what you told me," Ben spoke hesitatingly. "But, what does your legend have to do with what you're doing here now?"

"I thought you would never ask," Caster smiled. "For a moment I thought my legend was too much for you."

Ben chuckled weakly, but Caster just took another sip of her tea and continued speaking, "I was summoned by a man from the Magus Association-"

"The what?" Ben blinked.

"You don't know?" Caster blinked, honestly surprised. She gazed at Ben for a moment and blinked in surprise a second time. "I see. Well, it's an organization of magic users. My first Master was to be their representative in the Grail War in hopes of claiming it so to reach Akasha, the Root of all Existence."

Ben blinked at the name. The Root of all Existence, Akasha, sounded quite similar to the Forge of Creation, the absolute centre of all existence. Ben could recall his adventures in the Forge where the Celestialsapiens called home. It seems that the existence of it wasn't as limited or secret as Ben or his allies wanted to believe.

"As I was saying," Caster continued. "My first Master was a member of the Magus Association and he seemed to believe that being selected and being the heir of a magic family made him…special."

Ben could already guess the type. He had met lots of guys who seemed to think just because they had special abilities, were smarter, stronger, or something along those lines then they could do whatever they wanted and expect to get away with it. Ben found it especially satisfying when he proved those guys wrong in the end and they ended up throwing tantrums or swearing revenge for how he 'wronged' them. It was a guilty little thrill he got when he fought bad guys like Aggregor or Vilgax and won, watching them sulk in their defeat.

"Yes, he was quite an arrogant one," Caster frowned. "So full of himself. He actually thought that since he was my Master and that he held the Command Spells, he could force me to do anything he wanted. He was actually going to use the Command Seals to force me to become his slave, tending to all of his needs."

The disgust in her voice was quite obvious in Ben's ears. A woman as gorgeous as Caster made it pretty obvious what one of those things the Master would make Caster do was going to be.

"So what did you do?"

"Simple," Caster replied. "I killed him."

"K-killed?" Ben blanched.

"I think it was an appropriate action," Caster replied, her eyebrow raised. "He was going to rape me after all. Don't you think I was in the right?"

"O-of course!" Ben gasped out. "I'm just…not used to talking about killing so…casually."

"The difference between our times I suppose," Caster shrugged, taking another sip. "However, in doing such I practically doomed myself. Without a Master to supply me with mana, I would have vanished before the Grail War officially began. Before it could happen though…" Caster trailed off as her face began to light up in a rosy blush. "I met…him."

"Him?" Ben blinked. "Your Master?"

"Yes," Caster nodded. "He didn't hesitate in helping me. I told him what I was and about the Grail War and he immediately offered to become my Master so I wouldn't disappear. He…" her blush became brighter. "He even concocted the story that I was his fiancée so that we could share our residence. We're…we're even going through all of the motions to make the ceremony official."

"Wow. Must be some guy," Ben blinked, rather surprised by her complete turnaround from casual killer to blushing bride.

"He is," Caster nodded with a smile, but her smile faded. "Unfortunately, my Master does not have the ability to use magic. He cannot provide me with mana to sustain myself. As such, I am forced to siphon off residual mana from the local population."

"Which is why those people in the park were unconscious," Ben frowned.

"Nothing permanent," Caster reassured him. "They will recover soon enough." She heaved a sigh and set down her tea. "That is why I fight for the Grail. I wish for a second chance at life, to be able to have the love that was denied to me back when I was alive. However, I am the weakest out of all of the Servants and…I do not wish for even a hair on my Master's head to be harmed. When I saw that it seemed like you and Berserker were going to make an alliance, I let fear not just for myself but for my Master get the better of me."

Ben had listened to Caster's tale. A part of him, which sounded like Kevin, told him, "_She's just tricking you Tennyson! It's probably some sob story she rehearsed so you'll let your guard down and that's when she'll stab you in the back_."

Another, more reasonable (maybe even naïve) side that sounded like Gwen, argued, "_I think you should at least give her a chance. She doesn't seem so bad. Considering what she can do she could drain the people in the café and be on her merry way_."

Caster did the wrong things for the right reasons. She was in love. Her first Master had been a sleazeball and her new one had shown her nothing but unconditional kindness. Seeing Caster's blush, which could not be made up, Ben wondered how much of her tale was true. Still, Illya had tried to appeal to him with her cuteness and this woman was trying to make him turn a blind eye to her actions. True, her skeletons hadn't laid a finger on the unconscious people in the park when she first introduced herself, but she was the reason they were down and out in the first place. She said they would recover, but Ben wasn't sure if he could take her word on that just yet. Not with so many other people having been drained into coma-like states according to the reports from the Plumbers.

"I'd like to believe you, Ms. Caster," said Ben politely. "But…"

"You doubt my words," she concluded. "Of course considering my actions it will take quite a long time for you to trust me, or trust me at all."

Yes, Caster would need to prove herself to earn Ben's trust but if she knew about Ben's past, then she would know that on more than one occasion, an enemy had become a friend. The most important one had been Kevin. Back when they were kids they had become friends until Ben found out how crazy he'd been. Then Kevin did something stupid and absorbed the Omnitrix, gaining his alien's powers and appearance. He used these powers to frame Ben and then Kevin mutated into a scary combo of his alien forms at the time and used those combined powers to try and kill him, time and time again, until their final fight ending with Kevin being sent to the Null Void.

Half a decade later, Kevin would resurface making deals with the Forever Knight as an arms dealer. He and Ben had fought again that night with Kevin wanting payback and showing a new ability where he absorbed matter instead of energy. Kevin would then become an ally, friend and even Gwen's boyfriend. The last one had taken Ben by surprise, but he had to admit that Kevin had become like the brother he never had.

However, during their fight against Agreggor in the Forge of Creation, Kevin had once again absorbed his aliens, this time from the Ultimatrix, and mutated again into another combo of his aliens and went power-hungry and crazy. Ben almost gave up on him and wanted to put him down. Fortunately, Gwen was able to talk him out of it.

And then there was Charmcaster. Now, she had been an enemy as well but when they had gone with her to her home dimension, the sorceress had become friends with Gwen, just like how Ben and Kevin had become friends despite their past animosity.

"Is it too much to ask you not to drain from people?" asked Ben.

"I need mana to remain in this realm," said Caster, shaking her head. "There is simply no other way."

"But what if there was a way? What if there was another way you could stay and not suck the life out of people?"

"Then I will be grateful, but how will that be possible?" she asked.

"I'll think of something," said Ben a little uncertainly.

"If you figure something out, then please let me know," Caster replied. She then drained the rest of her tea and set her cup down. "I suppose now that you know my circumstances and I've apologized for my transgressions, I'll get to the core of the matter. I am asking if you would consider an alliance with myself and my Master, or at the very least a truce."

And there was the heart of the matter. Caster wanted to convince Ben to join up with her or at the very least stay out of her way. While Ben wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt since she had probably some of the best reasons to fight for anything. Still, she was hurting a lot of people with her mana draining just to keep her powers going along with herself.

"I can't say that I trust you enough for a full alliance just yet," Ben reluctantly admitted. Caster wasn't insulted of course, but rather resigned. "Still, you probably know my stance in fighting this war."

"Servants are fair game, but Masters are off limits," Caster nodded. "I witnessed the battle the previous night. Your titan form was…shocking."

"Way Big tends to do that," Ben snickered. Sobering up, he continued. "Anyway, if you keep the battling between the Servants than I won't have a reason to fight you unless we're the last two or something. Right now I'm more concerned about Archer, Lancer, and maybe Assassin if he shows up anytime soon. Those red and blue lunatics aren't real picky of who their targets are so long as it gets them what they want in my opinion."

"Such is the nature of this war," Caster nodded. "Some Servants and usually the Masters do not hold much restraint in their tactics when such a prize is at stake."

"No kidding," Ben sighed, remembering how Archer seemed to disregard the civilians and admonished him for not taking the chance to shoot him as U. Humungousaur. Still he had to deal with Archer later. Right now, Caster was taking up his attention. "As much as I'd like to get this out of the way, I don't think a café in the middle of the morning daylight is a good place to talk about these issues. We should try and talk about this somewhere with some better security or something."

"I agree," Caster nodded. "This evening, please come to the Ryuudou Shrine. It is where my Master and I are living. Most of the monks should be in their rooms by then and if necessary, I can cast a spell which will ensure they stay asleep."

"Okay," Ben nodded. "Sounds good. I'll be there by dark then just in case an emergency comes up and we have to get rough." That was more or less Ben's way of politely stating that if Caster tried anything, she wouldn't be having an easy time with it."

"My Master and I will be waiting for you then," Caster nodded. Standing up, she bowed politely. "I hope we can reach a favourable agreement."

Caster then took her leave, placing enough Yen down to cover her own tea. Ben watched her go until she vanished into the crowd. Only then did he feel some measure of relief seep into his bones again. Shaking his head, he reached down to eat his toast. It had cooled down considerably, but thankfully it was still edible.

* * *

**Miyama—Fuyki City Library**

Rin hated going to the library. She really did.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy books. One of her preferred activities was to sit down with a good thick book and enjoy her afternoon free of stress and distractions. However, those were all books from the Tohsaka private library and most of the subjects circled around magecraft and the like. No, what Rin didn't like about going to the library could be boiled down into two main reasons. The first was that this city library never had the kinds of books she liked or what few they did have were checked out and the waiting list was so long she was better off buying the book herself. The second reason was despite all of the organization which the librarians put into the book stacks and shelves, it was the computer room that got more action. Day in and day out it was filled with people who were too cheap to get their own web connections or just some NEET person who was behind in his payments but just had to keep chatting to his friends.

Yet it was for a computer that Rin journeyed to the public library in the first place.

Rin didn't really deal with computers if she could help it. Oh sure, they were useful and all especially when there was a subject in school she had to study and needed an answer quickly. However, she was raised as a traditional magus until her father died in the last Grail War and with her mother permanently in the hospital it was left to Kotomine to teach her the ins and outs of magic when she could stomach the man's presence. As such, Rin dealt with paper, ink, books, and practical experience rather than screens, emails, and recorded videos. She knew how to use a computer to some extent, but if she could use a book to get what she wanted then she would.

In her current situation, her books were no help at all. She had exhausted every book she had on shape-shifting, transformations, and everything between in hopes of learning just how that American Master was able to do what he did. Even though Avenger was a mystery in herself and a reasonable threat if she could match Saber in swordplay, the American was a whole different level. She researched, and researched, and researched but found absolutely nothing. With Archer recovering from being thrown into a tree and Shirou being as non-aggressive as ever, she didn't have much else to do with her time but research and try to figure out who this guy was.

So at her wits end, she relented and decided to see if a computer could help her out.

Entering the computer room and the stupid air conditioning used to keep the machines from overheating despite the time of year, Rin saw that some of the monitors were filled. At least they looked like serious people who were researching a subject rather than someone who was just taking advantage of the free web connection. Quickly snagging one of the machines which were far enough away for her liking, Rin moved the mouse and brought the monitor to life. Pressing the 'Enter' button to enter the password-less system, the screen came to life with icons and a toolbar. Scrolling the mouse, she clicked on the internet connection icon which opened a new window and brought up the ever so famous 'Google' icon.

Rin's theory was that since Avenger's Master was American, he may have been spotted somewhere in America before. Forms like his dinosaur or ultraman forms would bring a lot of attention. Since she really couldn't get in contact with the American Magus Association branch, she figured that a computer would be her next best bet for American information. With the screen for the famous search engine open, Rin brought the cursor to the bar in the centre and clicked on it, making the blinking line appear.

'_Humungousar, Way Big, Big Chill, Water Hazard, Terraspin, and Cannonbolt,_' Rin mentally recalled as she typed into the bar. The Master had a habit of yelling out a name of some kind when he transformed, assumedly the name of the form he had chosen. Both she and Shirou had put together a list of the names they knew and now she would see if they would pay off. With all of them typed in, she hit the 'Enter' button again.

Rin tapped her fingers as she waited for the next screen to load, '_If you're going to use computers, at least use up to date ones or else not even the researchers will want to use them and will go to internet cafes or something._'

When the new screen popped up, Rin began to read over what results she got. Looking at the top of the page though, her eyes bugged out when she saw what she had gotten. "No way."

'_Welcome to the Official Ben Tennyson Website._'

* * *

**Shinto—Ben's Room**

"Ben, forgive me for my tone, but what you are planning is incredibly and utterly stupid," said Avenger. The blonde knight was not pleased to hear that her Master had met up with Caster again before negotiating a meeting to see if they could form an alliance or at least a truce until further notice. It served to make Avenger grit her teeth since she hadn't finished berating Ben for being so casual with Berserker's Master the previous day.

Avenger and Ben were sitting in the living room with Ben's book about the Servants in his lap. After coming back, he looked up Caster again to see if her story had revealed any new details about her. Unfortunately, she had been just vague enough to avoid any and all sorts of information being recorded into the book. The blue-haired woman was quite obviously skilled in avoiding giving out information.

"Relax, Avenger. We're just going to discuss and negotiate," reasoned Ben.

"But we will also be entering enemy territory, which means that they will have the home field advantage," Avenger argued.

"And I got this," said Ben, pointing to the Ultimatrix. "And you."

"Even so, we should be cautious," said Ben. "Personally, I disagree with this idea and would not go with you but since you are who you are you will go nonetheless."

"Darn right I will!" Ben grinned, but Avenger's sour stare killed his moment of goofiness in an instant. Sighing, he tried to reason with her. "Look at it this way Avenger, Caster said her Master would be part of the negotiations. That means we can find out who this guy is and maybe how he stacks up."

"But she admitted that he cannot use magic," Avenger argued.

"Doesn't mean they can't be dangerous in their own right," Ben retorted. "I can't use magic and here I am able to transform into dozens of different alien forms. Just because he's not the average Master doesn't mean he doesn't stack up in other ways."

"A compelling argument," Avenger sighed. Normally she would have argued that a regular human couldn't stand up to a Servant, but her Master had proven capable of doing just that. Truly she had been saddled with a stubborn and strange Master. Shaking her head, she glanced at Ben. "If you are set on seeing this through, then I will accompany you. I will not allow Caster to harm you under the pretence of peaceful negotiations. I've seen that happen too many times for comfort."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Ben nodded. "Having backup will make things a little easier to deal with. Especially if this is a trick."

"At least we agree on that," Avenger nodded.

* * *

**Emiya Estate**

WHAM!

Shirou flinched as he and Saber watched Rin drop a stack of papers onto the dining room table. The red-clad magi had an air of smugness on her which only a considerable achievement would bring. What it was, Shirou wasn't too sure.

"Uhh…Rin-san…what is this?" asked Shirou, not noticing he was using Rin's first name.

"Information worth its weight in gold Shirou-kun," Rin grinned happily. "I've got everything we could ever want on that shape-shifter! His name, home, heck, I even got his favourite kind of drink!"

"Really?" Shirou and Saber blinked in shock. Both master and Servant reached for the stack of papers and retrieved a sheet. Both sported numerous pictures of various creatures fighting off other monsters, beating up what seemed to obviously be criminals, or just apparently goofing off with some stupid stunt. They were a number of shapes, sizes, and colours but one thing that remained the same was the hourglass symbol their bodies sported.

"Where did you get this?" asked Shirou, looking at his classmate.

"The internet believe it or not," Rin answered as she took a seat. Shirou goggled at her, making the girl giggle. "I know. It surprised me too. Apparently this guy is some sort of big time hero back in America. He's super famous. I found all of this on a website one of his fans made up. It lists everything from who he is, how many forms he can transform into, what they can do, and best of all, how he can do it."

"Ben Tennyson. Hometown: Bellwood, United States," Saber read. "Has been an active power against the forces of evil since he was ten years old…impressive."

"If it's true," Rin pointed out.

"Seems like it to me," Shirou blinked as he looked over a picture of a green slime creature battling against some kind of robot. "Just how many forms can he transform into?"

"A bit over forty," Rin answered, digging out another piece of paper. "Gives them the most ridiculous names too. Goop, Diamondhead, Heatblast, Brainstorm, XLR8, Ghostfreak…I don't know where he gets them from. What's cool though is that it also lists some of the things they're capable of."

"That'll come in handy," Shirou admitted. "But what is he doing all the way over here? He doesn't seem to be the type that would know about the Holy Grail."

"He might have, but it's hard to say. I'd bet my Command Seals he knows about magic though," Rin frowned. Part of the information she gathered was a list of enemies he had collected. Two of the names which stuck out for her were Hex and Charmcaster. While Rin wasn't quite up to date on what the Magus Association was up to, her father had been until he died. She still had his old reports and notes which told that Clock Tower Enforcers were on the hunt for the pair with their rampant abuse of their powers and threatening the complete exposure of magi everywhere. Both were missing for the moment, but perhaps this Tennyson guy knew what happened to them.

"Man he's been around," Shirou commented, seeing pictures of Ben's various forms seen all over America, Rome, China, and even in Japan. One such picture involved his giant form fighting against a blue and black version of itself. "Hey, he was fighting something like this is Japan too? How come I never heard about this?"

"I don't have a TV so I never heard of it either," Rin blinked, eyeing the picture. "It was all the way in Tokyo so maybe it was only considered a rumour here. I certainly would have ignored it without proof."

Saber meanwhile was intently ignoring the pair in favour of a picture she was looking at. It showed the brown dinosaur creature battling foes once again, but what captured Saber's attention was the fact that he was fighting knights. She didn't recognize the armour of course, but she knew the symbol.

The symbol belonged to a self-proclaimed order of knights calling themselves the Order of Infinity. They were a self-righteous group who called Saber a witch and a monster simply because it did not appear she aged like a man normally would. They also called her a traitor to humanity for accepting help from the Lady of the Lake in accepting Excalibur. Of course, they proved to be hypocrites as well as zealots when they continuously attempted to steal her sword so they could use it for their own ends. She thought she saw the end of them when she had her men banish each and every one of them from her kingdom lest they be executed for crimes against the crown. It seemed they had managed to survive the test of time.

"Saber, what do you find so interesting about that picture?" asked Rin.

"Nothing," the blonde replied, setting the picture down. "Just examining this…Ben Tennyson."

* * *

**Miyama-Ryuudou Shrine**

Ben and Avenger were quickly onto the streets as the sun went down. Avenger was in her full suit of armour while Ben's fingers were already itching to hit the Ultimatrix. Both of them knew that Caster was ruthless if summoning an army of skeletons was any indication. Things were going to be tense since there was some bad history. If it was going to be a trap, they were not going to fall into it easily.

The stairway to Ryuudou Shrine was surrounded on both sides by numerous trees. It looked serene for a simple staircase, but knowing that Caster was there added an ominous air to it that neither Avenger nor Ben liked. As the first steps, they spotted a man at the foot of the steps leading up to the shrine. From head to toe, he was dressed in the garb of a samurai warrior. He had long dark hair which was held in a loose ponytail while his right hand was gripped on a sheathed katana. He was calm and collected, appearing every bit the warrior which Japan was famous for.

"Master of Avenger, welcome," the man bowed in greeting. "I am Servant Assassin, Sasaki Kojirou."

Ben and Avenger both blinked as the man, apparently the final missing Servant Assassin, casually revealed his true name to them. Granted, it didn't really mean anything to Ben since he wasn't exactly well-read on Japanese mythology or history, whichever Assassin's name came from. Still, a bit of research would reveal not only Assassin's name, but what he did in life and what he was capable of. That would be key to defeating any Servant so why would Assassin reveal his name so casually, and what was he doing there in the first place?

"My Master has been expecting you," Assassin continued. "Please follow me." Assassin turned his back to them as he walked up the steps, leading the way.

"I'll watch your back, Ben," said Avenger, still ever-so vigilant.

"Avenger, has anyone ever told you that you're a bit too high strung?" Ben asked. Avenger didn't reply as Ben followed Assassin with her following closely behind.

Ben's words may have been light-hearted, but inwardly he was agreeing. He didn't know why Assassin was at the temple, but he guessed either he was part of an alliance Caster made with another Master or Assassin was serving the same Master as Caster. Either way, he was getting the urge to attend the meeting as Fourarms or Diamondhead rather than his human form. Caster hadn't mentioned Assassin would be there, but then again he hadn't really asked what to expect at the temple.

The trio approached an ornate wall and wooden gate which surrounded the entire property. It didn't seem to be overly strange or intimidating in Ben's eyes, but he still remained tense since it signalled the limit of Caster's territory. When they approached the gate though, Avenger stiffened slightly like she had gotten a sudden chill.

"You-!" she began, growing angry.

"It's a boundary field my Master made," Assassin replied. "It hinders the abilities of Servants who enter without my Master's permission. She may have invited you, but she does not wish to make herself an open target in case you only agreed as part of a ploy to trick her."

"Your Master invited me?" Ben blinked. "It was Caster who did that."

"Indeed," Assassin nodded. "Servant Caster is my Master."

"A Servant summoning a Servant?" Avenger gasped.

Ben was likewise surprised, but he guessed that if any of the Servants could summon a Servant of their own, it would have been Caster. The book about the Servants explained that Caster was generally experienced with powerful magic the likes that is rarely seen or hadn't been seen since the hero's time. Likely someone like that would know a thing or two about summoning.

The trio entered the formal grounds of Ryuudou Shrine and Ben had to admit it was an impressive place. It looked a lot like what Ben expected a temple to look like, but so much more impressive. The grounds were clean and trimmed to perfection. Off to the side was a large Zen rock garden which was just as perfect as the rest of the temple, showing numerous hours of meditation and dedication. It was really very inspirational.

He just hoped this place wouldn't turn into anyone's grave.

* * *

**Emiya Estate**

Rin, Shirou, and Saber were pouring over the documents which outlined just about everything about Ben Tennyson, the now confirmed Master of Avenger. With that information, they now could prepare should things come to blows with the shape-shifter again. Shirou was boggled by the sheer number of various forms which Ben had at his disposal. Still, it was plain to see that Ben was trying to help people when he transformed into his monstrous (fans claimed alien) forms. Was this really the guy he had bumped into in the middle of the street?

"It seems Ben Tennyson's character is flawless, save for his ego growing too big," Saber commented, reading through the exploits of the American boy. "It seems that the people look up to him."

"Not according to this Harrangue guy," Rin commented, reading from her own smaller stack of paper. "Claims that Ben Tennyson is a menace to society and is more or less an engine of destruction whose own ego will be the undoing of the law in Bellwood and pretty much become a risk to every man, woman, and child living there and in America as a whole."

"What?" Shirou blinked.

"Do you think there is merit into what that man says?" asked Saber.

"Saber!"

"Pfft! Probably not," Rin snorted. "I recognize the type. He's just using Tennyson as a scapegoat so to advance his career and look like a champion of the people. If it wasn't Tennyson, he'd be saying the same things about the American military, or some politician. He's like Shinji in that way." Seeing Shriou blink with some confusion, Rin explained. "You and I both know Shinji puts himself on the top by flaunting his family name, money, and good looks right? Well in the end he's just using everyone around him to push him to the top. Harrangue does the same, only he makes the people who are better look worse so he can come out on top."

"You think so?" asked Shirou, relief in his voice.

"Well, that and when I printed Harrangue's stories off of his website, it was nothing but his smear campaign against Tennyson and shameless ads about his book trying to convince everyone else to agree with him," Rin snickered. "It was kind of obvious at that point."

"I know that type as well," Saber muttered under her breath. Putting her papers down, she looked to her Master and his friend. "Are we going to go on the assault then? This information could be vital in defeating him. Archer and I will both be able to use this information."

"I don't think this is a good idea," Shirou spoke up, reluctance in his voice. "Sure we know what he's capable of now, but knowing a way to beat him and putting it into practice are two completely different things."

"Master…" Saber frowned, growing agitated at his naïve mindset once again.

"No, I agree," Rin spoke up, making Saber turn to her in surprise. "Being told what he's capable of on paper is all well and good but it doesn't do us too much good in the real world if we don't recognize the signs that he's about to use those skills. We still don't know what Avenger is capable of either, which is really half of the problem when it comes to those two." Placing her papers down, she continued. "We can't just snap at shadows and rumours. Tennyson seems to be the same kind of guy as Shirou-kun. We can wait to deal with him. We should concentrate on who we know are enemies right now. Lancer, Rider, and Berserker for the time being."

"And the Servant supposedly at Ryuudou Temple?" Saber pressed, obviously not liking how the strategy was shaping up.

"We'll likely have to investigate sooner or later, but Shinji's not the most honest of individuals," Rin replied. "We'll have to step carefully since if there is a Servant there they probably turned the area into a fortress or it's a trap Shinji set to get us out of the way."

Saber heaved a sigh and resigned herself. It seemed that neither Rin nor Shirou were going to be taking the offensive anytime soon. Lancer hadn't been seen since they had done battle with each other and Berserker would come and go with the whims of his Master. Archer was out for the time being since his Master was in an alliance with Shirou while Assassin and Caster had yet to show themselves. The only constant opponents in the war were Avenger and her Master but now they had a solid strategy against him but neither of the two were going to go on the offensive. They also had a solid lead but because of unknown factors they weren't going to try for an assault on the temple either. It was a sound strategy if one was fighting regular opponents, but in the Holy Grail War, there was nothing that was considered ordinary.

Maybe she was driven by her own desire for the Grail mixed with her desire to protect her Master, but Saber's resolve to act independently was growing.

* * *

**Miyama—Ryuudou Shrine**

Assassin led the Master and Servant pair towards the main building of the shrine, not saying a word. As they got to the doors, he stood to the side and took a solitary position with no reason as to why. Before Ben could ask 'what next', the doors of the building seemed to open themselves.

"Welcome, Ben Tennyson," greeted Caster, appearing out of the darkness of the building. She was no longer dressed in civilian clothes but rather garbed in the robes befitting her class. "And Servant Avenger."

Avanger tensed but Ben raised his hand, a silent signal for her to stand down. "Good evening, Caster." Ben bowed politely, adopting the native gesture, "And thanks for inviting us."

"You're welcome, and I am surprised you accepted my invitation," Caster nodded back. "Your Servant surely would've tried to convince you that it would be unwise."

"She kinda did," Ben admitted.

"And I stand by my opinion," said Avenger, her eyes trained directly on Caster. "But I will stand by my Master, in spite of his decision, which I find foolish."

"Such loyalty," complimented Caster. It was perhaps a compliment, but there was a condescending tone in her voice. "Now, please follow me. My Master is waiting in the sitting room. We have tea and snacks prepared as well."

Avenger narrowed her eyes at Caster's back before she and Ben entered the building with her. Despite the creepy aura, it was a really nice place. He wondered how much it was worth on real estate. Not the proper thoughts for his situation, but it kept the shivers from inhabiting his spine.

Caster guided the group through the building before emerging into a well-lit sitting room decorated with mantra scrolls on the wall. In the centre of the room was a low lap table with pillows for the guests' comfort on opposite sides. Three of the pillows were unoccupied, but the fourth held a man who was kneeling stoically, wearing a green suit with short black hair and rectangular glasses. His face was stoic and showed absolutely no emotion. If Ben didn't know any better, he would have sworn the man was a statue painted to be a decoy.

'_He's her Master?_' blinked Ben. The stoic man didn't look like the type who'd get involved in the Grail War, but Caster admitted that he wasn't able to use magic like the other Masters could. He was quite literally dragged off the street into this mess. The man looked to Ben and the young man felt a chill. It was a kind of chill he had gotten when he had to face some of his most murderous enemies like Vilgax and Agreggor, but it also held elements of some of his skilled enemies such as Sixsix or Sevenseven.

"Caster, are these your guests?" asked Caster's Master.

"Yes Master," she confirmed.

The man stood up and Ben backed away a little and gulped. Despite being familiar with the chill running down his spine in comparison to his usual group of enemies, something about this guy set him apart from the others. Something which would make the liked of Darkstar, Albedo, and Rojo wet their pants in fear if they ever had to face this man.

"Please have a seat," Caster invited, gesturing to the seats across from her Master while she took a seat next to him.

Avenger and Ben took their own seats, but not before Avenger checked both for traps. When all four people were situated, Caster gestured towards the tea and snacks which were generously prepared. Caster's Master dug in first, bringing some measure of security about the food to Avenger's mind as Ben likewise dug in.

"Now, shall we begin the negotiation?" asked Caster.

* * *

**Miyama—Streets**

Rider watched patiently outside of the Ryuudou Shrine, crouched on the limb of a nearby tree. Ever since her Master had left the hint that another Servant was at the Shrine, he had her scope the place out periodically in hopes that the Masters of Saber and Archer would attack. The plan was that while the so-called Servant Assassin was busy dealing with the intruders, Rider would go in and kill Caster while she was defenceless and cut down on the competition, possibly with that Assassin killing Archer or Saber in the process.

It was times like that which assured Rider that her Master was an idiot. Yes, she had Magic Resistance at the B level, but that was against the standards of modern magi. Caster was capable of using magics that had long since slipped from the minds of man and were perhaps much more powerful than anything which could be used by the average magic user. Her Magic Resistance could help her survive Caster's assaults, but they would be a far cry from ensuring she could win. It was a fact that Shinji just couldn't, or wouldn't accept no matter how she tried to spell it out. So with no other course, she kept staking out the temple, waiting to see if anyone would rise to the bait.

"The boy has you here still?" a new voice spoke from behind Rider.

Rider grimaced and felt a slight chill run down her spine. From the shadows behind her, True Assassin emerged as he took a perch on a nearby branch. The lovely Rider knew of True Assassin's presence since that detestable man Zouken Matou managed to hoodwink the Grail War Rules and summon the Hashashin leader. Although, Rider had to admit that the Assassin guarding the shrine was definitely not what she'd call Assassin material. If anything, she'd peg him more along Saber Class than anything else. Perhaps it was the mysterious Avenger's presence which caused the loopholes in the rules to be used, but nonetheless the elderly Matou knew how to use them in his obsessive quest for the Grail.

Zouken had immediately ordered his grandson to keep Rider out of True Assassin's affairs and work with him when necessary. No one was to know that True Assassin existed, and thus would be a trump card. The casual way True Assassin seemed to view killing was definitely not what Rider disliked about him. What bothered her about him was how he seemed to consider no one around him to be humans, but just targets waiting to be selected and then taken out. Considering how Rider in her life had slaughtered countless men in the name of protecting her sisters and later her insanity, such as asinine reason to kill just didn't sit right with her.

"Master's orders," the purple-haired woman muttered. "Why are you here?"

"The boy is here," was the black-skinned man's response.

Ah, the boy, the mysterious shape-shifter who was proving to be a true wild card in the Grail War. His abilities Rider hadn't seen since her own time where beings could transform their bodies quite easily. However, the forms he selected were quite…odd. She hadn't seen anything like them before, but she was confident she could at least stand her own against them. However, she had only seen three such forms and fought against one so it may end up being down to luck if she was caught by surprise. The boy also knew better about her abilities and may be able to select a form better suited to combat her. Naturally the elderly Matou couldn't let a threat like that continue and because none of the current Masters seemed to be taking the shape-shifter seriously, True Assassin would do what the others would not.

"What do you plan to do then?" asked Rider.

"Wait," True Assassin replied. "Either an opportunity will arise, or the boy will leave. I will be able to complete my task then."

Rider nodded. She too would have to wait and see if tonight would be the night her patience in this regard would pay off. She just wished that she didn't have to wait it out with such a detestable being.

* * *

**Miyama—Rooftops**

Another section of Miyama was playing host to the blonde Saber as she leaped across the roofs of several homes dressed in her full battle gear. It had taken a while, but once Shirou and Rin had gone to bed she immediately left to deal with the lead on the Servant hiding in the temple. She didn't want to go behind her Master's back like she was, but Shirou's naïve mindset was going to get him killed by te other Masters if they didn't do something soon. As such, Saber decided that it would be up to her to protect her Master and win the Holy Grail under her own initiative.

Clearing the last house on her path, she landed in front of the seemingly peaceful entrance to the Ryuudou Shrine. She didn't pause to admire the scenery as she boldly stepped forward. Street and sidewalk gave way to pure stone and what felt like endless amounts of forests. The moonlight poked through the branches and the clouds in the night, making for a partially shaded set of stairs and numerous areas for an enemy to appear. Still, Saber kept her grip on her invisible sword and prepared for any sort of approaching conflict. She guessed she would either be facing Caster or Assassin, but she felt some measure of confidence with her Class traits. They would be invaluable in the approaching battle.

Continuing to run up the stairs, Saber came to a sudden halt when she saw a figure standing at the gate of the Shrine, not even trying to hide his presence from her as she approached. The moon slowly appeared in the night sky, revealing his form as well as the thin sword in his right hand.

Coming to a halt, Saber gazed up at the man, "You are…"

"Servant Assassin," the man replied. "Sasaki Kojirou."

Saber gasped at the blatant revelation of Assassin's name. She was quite understandably stunned as to what the man had said, but she grimaced as she remembered herself. Relaxing her battle stance but keeping her sword ready, she gazed at the man who would likely be her opponent, "You have me. Now that you've revealed your name to me, I can't as a knight in good conscience not return that courtesy." She steeled herself for the admittedly dangerous act she was about to commit. "You are Kojirou, correct? Servant assassin, my name is…"

"It doesn't matter," Assassin interrupted. Saber blinked at the interruption as the samurai began to slowly walk down the stairs. "It seems my opponent is the kind who will give me their name if I give them mine. I guess I was the one to be caught in a clumsy act."

Saber kept her eyes on the swordsman as he approached, stopping only when he was close enough to point his sword at her with only centimetres to spare.

"There is no point for us in revealing our names," he continued. "For ones such as us, only our swords need to know one another. That is what Servants are meant to do," his katana gleamed in the moonlight, reflecting Saber's crystal eyes. "Or am I wrong, Servant Saber?"

"Indeed, that is correct," Saber acknowledged. Leaping back, she came back down on the nearest landing which came with the constantly climbing stairs. Gripping her invisible sword, she took a battle stance.

"Indeed," Assassin nodded. "Then let us duel, Saber." He finished by taking a stance of his own despite standing on the stairs.

Both sword specialists stood at the ready for what seemed like a moment stretching into infinity, but in fact for merely a heartbeat. When it ended, both Saber and Assassin lunged at one another for their opponents. Their blades sang as they cut through the air and clashed against one another in a loud crash.

Back at the Emiya Estate, Shirou would wake up with a gasp and a pain in his chest. He would also wake with the feeling that something was happening to his Servant that could spell the end of her.

* * *

**Miyama-Ryuudou Shrine**

Negotiations to a truce or an alliance were off to a slow start since neither side seemed to want to give anything away by opening those negotiations. Still, it was Caster's Master who broke the ice by introducing himself as Kuzuki Souichirou although any further details were tight-lipped. Ben likewise gave his own name, but didn't say anything about himself either. Both Caster and Avenger were keeping an eye on one another in case someone tried to pull something funny.

"Caster tells me that you refuse to target the Masters in this conflict," Kuzuki commented, eyeing Ben analytically.

"That's right," Ben nodded. "The Servants are fair game, but…"

"Yes," Kuzuki nodded. "For one that does not wish to take human life that is sound judgement, but also foolish."

"What?" Ben blinked, feeling a little insulted.

"Strategy is about taking the easiest path to victory," the cold man replied. "Killing the Masters ensures the defeat of the Servants since they will not have a source of mana to sustain them anymore."

"Sorry if I don't agree," Ben frowned. "But if you feel like you can go that far, what are you fighting for? What's your stake in all this?"

"If you are referring to the Grail, I care nothing for it," was Kuzuki's answer. "All I care for is right here."

Avenger noted that Kuzuki's hand inched closer to Caster's as he made that announcement. It was probably the most subtle sign of affection she had ever seen, but it was there. Of course, seeing Caster struggling to hold in a loving smile made it quite clear she understood that sign as well. Ben had told her that Caster had fallen in love with her Master, but now she was able to guess that the feelings were at least mutual. Her more cynical side felt that a Master and Servant pair entering such an intimate relationship was a bad idea, but should they win the Grail, they could make that love come to fruition.

"So you fight for Caster," Ben summarized. Well, considering Caster wanted to use the Grail so she could live her life here and now, it wasn't a half-bad idea.

"I fight for anything that gives my life purpose," Kuzuki replied.

"Love's a good place to start," Ben nodded. Sighing he decided that they had been skirting around the subject long enough. "Okay, so Caster told me that she'd like to make an alliance or at least a truce for the time being. Since you two seem to be in this for a decent reason, I can safely say fighting you wouldn't be a very big priority at the moment. What I don't like is how Caster has to drain people into unconsciousness to keep her powers going. That's where I find myself having problems."

"I said before, I don't have any choice," Caster responded. "My Master cannot use magic…"

"And what about ambient magic?" asked Ben. "The residual stuff floating around? The Grail Wars have probably been happening for a long time here, haven't they? If the Grail came down before then it's probably left a boatload of stuff behind. These magi guys probably come from all over and stuff to compete right? They probably brought a buttload of magic artefacts you could siphon off of, or even ways to keep their magic up if they were actually part of the War. Your old Master probably had dozens of artefacts you could use as batteries."

"Caster?" asked Kuzuki, glancing over at his Servant in a silent question as to Ben's suggestion.

"My previous Master did bring just about every artefact he could lay his hands on," Caster frowned in thought. In truth, she didn't want to even give the man a second thought because of what he was going to try and put her through. Still, she would have to consider this idea if she hoped to bring the Master of Avenger over to her side. "Most of them were to help increase his chances of winning. Battle artefacts, pre-prepared spells, that sort of thing. It wouldn't be too difficult to drain the mana out of them. If some of them are as potent as I believe, they could keep me fuelled for some time."

"Then we have an alternate strategy," Kuzuki nodded. "One which can conceal some of our activities from the other Masters."

"Yes," Caster smiled. "It seems that siding with the young man was a wise decision."

Ben didn't show it, but inside he was giving a sigh of relief. He genuinely thought that Caster and Kuzuki were fighting for the right reasons in the Grail War, but with the way she kept harming people so to keep her mana topped off made her a threat that Ben wouldn't leave alone. If his idea of using magical items like batteries, then Caster could remain topped off so to protect herself and Kuzuki, but wouldn't have to drain innocent people of their mana so to do so. Maybe, just maybe he could at least help out the couple-to-be if they needed it

Before negotiations into an actual alliance could begin, Caster stiffened, "We're about to have visitors."

"What?" Ben blinked.

* * *

**Outside**

Rider and True Assassin leapt from tree to tree with the energy of the boundary field crackling across their bodies. Rider had Magic Resistance so whatever the field was supposed to do to intruders wasn't affecting her as seriously as it could have. True Assassin on the other hand felt a powerful weight being pushed down on him. No doubt the field was meant to inhibit other Servants who might be intruding into Caster's territory. It would make fighting more difficult, but that was fine with the black-skinned assassin. He wasn't here to fight the other Servants, but kill a Master.

Rider continued on ahead before she landed on the property near the rock garden. True Assassin remained in the shadows, using his Presence Concealment to hide himself. Not even Caster would be able to find him while he was using it. Once the boy came out, he would learn why this Servant was selected to become the next Hassan-I-Sabbah.

Saber's sudden appearance to fight the false Assassin was the perfect distraction. However, with the field reacting as violently as it did against Rider's presence thanks to her Magic Resistance, Caster would have to be a fool to not know that her territory had been invaded.

Rider eyed her surroundings, looking for any sign of Caster or of True Assassin's target. Things seemed to be silent momentarily, but movement caught her ears and forcing her to look up. Emerging from above the shrine and on the roof, several of Caster's skeletal minions had appeared. The beasts didn't even wait before they lunged at her with their weapons drawn. Rider was likewise not idle as she drew her spikes and chains before moving into action. The skeletons slashed and bellowed in their assaults, but Rider's agility allowed her to pass through the assaults like they were merely minor obstructions. At the same time, she was piercing the piles of bones

She had to at least try to defeat Caster…or else her Master would suffer. She also knew that True Assassin would be of no help because his mission didn't align with hers. For all intents and purposes, she was on her own.

* * *

**Shrine Stairway**

The clash between Saber and Assassin was going on strong as katana met invisible sword. Despite the enemy blade being unseen to the naked eye, Assassin was holding his own against it. Still, it didn't mean that he was having an easy time either.

Gaining distance from Saber, Assassin took another look at the petite blonde who was his opponent, "I never thought I'd have this much trouble against an invisible sword." Saber didn't move an inch, but Assassin didn't take advantage of it. Instead, he decided to satisfy the curiosity which he knew was burning inside of the woman, he need to know why he felt an invisible sword wasn't difficult but hers was. "You see, my techniques are quite evil. I'd cut down a person in a single slash if their skills were just average, even with an unseen blade. For you to resist me for this long…it pleases me very much, Saber."

Saber still didn't find reason enough to speak.

"Please don't disappoint me now and say that this is the extent of your skills," Assassin pressed. "That invisible sword isn't just for show, is it?"

"Shut your dishonourable mouth!" Saber snapped back, lunging at Assassin with a wide slash. As she moved though, Assassin merely twisted his body and let her pass. However, he did manage to feel the wind of the blade passing by him. Not close enough to cut him, but close enough to feel its passing.

"It seems I was right," Assassin muttered as he eyed Saber, "The sword is three shaku long and four sun wide by my estimation."

Saber stiffened at the words and broke away from combat again, landing several stairs downhill from Assassin. Her eyes were still trained on her opponent but now saw him as a greater threat, "Without the use of sorcery or a sufficient number of strikes, you managed to deduce the length of my blade. That's very impressive."

"If you think that's impressive, then don't you think it's time that you reveal your true skills?" asked Assassin.

Saber's eyes narrowed at the subtle slight, "Are you implying I have been going easy on you?"

"Are you saying that you weren't?" Assassin retorted. "I find it quite insulting that you fight me with your sword in it's sheathe." The taunt was supposed to get a rise out of Saber and perhaps have her reveal just what her sword was, likely a Noble Phantasm. Having her reveal her sword and thus her techniques was a possible hint into who the blonde might be. However, she didn't rise to take the bait. With Saber being as stoic as ever, Assassin merely nodded and began to descend. "Since you're being stubborn, I'll suppose I'll show my Hiken first then."

Reaching a landing near Saber, Assassin began to raise his blade with the tip pointing at his opponent, "Prepare your stance Saber, or else you will die." The blonde was immediately on her guard and prepared for anything. Her only concern was that if Assassin was giving her so much warning before he used his technique, then it must be a powerful and deadly move which she was going to be made the target of. She would have to be ready to move in a heartbeat.

"Hiken…" Assassin began. "_TSUMBAME-GAESHI!_

The strikes came fast and without so much as a warning before Saber found herself struck with an impossible attack. The attack composed of a slash going from her right shoulder to her left hip, her left shoulder to her right hip, and then a strike which would have hit her midsection. The timing of the strikes was almost simultaneous, which was a shock in itself since Saber never would have imagined that any man could move so quickly without sorcery assisting them. However, she didn't have time to admire the mechanics of the attack since she abandoned any idea of retaliation and leapt backwards, avoiding the last of the three slashes. With a cry, she leaped backwards and down several more stairs, hitting the rock hard and stumbling for the poor landing.

"Oh…so you avoided it," Assassin grinned.

Saber grimaced as she got to her feet again, now properly able to marvel at the attack that had been used at her, "What…what was that?"

"Swallows are tricky birds. They can change their flight pattern just be sensing change in the air," Assassin spoke up. "With one slash, you strike at the swallow and with the second you strike the evading swallow down. However, they are quite fast. So you would need to use those strikes almost simultaneously."

"But your technique is more than a simple slash," Saber frowned. "At that precise moment, there were two slashes of your sword. The multi-dimensional refraction phenomenon…"

Assassin closed his eyes, revealing utter disappointment not in Saber, but in himself for Saber being able to read into his technique so well, "A shame that my footing was not solid. Fighting on this type of terrain compromises my footing. If the step was just a bit wider, I could have bisected you with the third strike."

Saber grimaced, knowing that for that one instant Assassin was correct.

* * *

**Ryuudou Shrine**

Ben and Avenger looked up from the table when the roars of Caster's skeletons and the subsequent crashing of their bodies could be heard not far outside. It was plain enough for everyone to tell that a Servant had gotten onto the shrine grounds and was decimating the ranks of Caster's minions.

"It seems that our time here is up," Kuzuki commented calmly. "A pity. We seemed to be getting somewhere."

"Yes," Caster frowned before she glanced at Ben and Avenger. "I know I have no room to ask, but could you cover us while I escort my Master to safety? While I am certain I could fight well enough on my own, Rider is one of the fastest out of all of the classes and I fear if I try to fight her, she would target my Master. Because I am not at full strength, I would not be able to protect him as well as I could myself."

Avenger frowned slightly at Caster's plea, obviously not liking it. While Kuzuki was quite obviously not a mage in any sense of the word, something about him made her think that he wasn't as helpless as the blue-haired woman made him out to be. She wasn't quite sure if Caster was an immediate threat to her own Master just yet despite how well the negotiations were going, but Rider definitely was a threat on her own. The swordswoman also didn't forget how the blindfolded woman was going to try and kill her and Saber at the same time before Ben transformed and attacked her. At the moment, Caster could wait but Avenger knew better than to trust someone who constantly kept their face hidden.

"Right," Ben nodded, his noble side getting into the driver's seat. Getting up, he looked to Avenger, "Let's go Avenger!"

"Yes Master," the silver-clad knight nodded as she rose.

Both Master and Servant ran for the door out of the room and towards the noise. As they left, Caster and her Master likewise rose to their feet. Kuzuki looked as emotionless as ever, but a smile was on Caster's lips.

"It seems that things are turning out well."

* * *

**Outdoors**

Rider smashed another of the skeletons against a large rock before she turned to face the rest. The skeletons were not so quick to attack her, making the Servant believe that perhaps someone new was coming to the fight. If it was Caster, then Rider could make her attempt on the witch's life and then make her way back so she could explain all of the ways the assault was a bad idea with the idiot who called himself her Master actually listening.

The door opened and the skeletons immediately made tracks from the area. However, who emerged from the building was not Caster as Rider had been expecting, but the silver-clad knight she had come to know as Avenger. Sword in hand, the knight came running towards her with the metal gleaming in the moonlight.

"Hraaaaagh!" Avenger screamed, lunging at Rider with the intent of bisecting her down the middle. The violet-haired Rider immediately dodged the strike, as it struck the ground. Rider immediately gripped her chain tight, stretching it taut as she gazed upon Avenger.

"So, you're here," said Rider.

Avenger was poised and ready to strike Rider down. She didn't give a verbal response but her eyes spoke volume. She was there to strike Rider down and she didn't care how long it was going to take.

Rider was beginning to fee uncomfortable. Avenger at the shrine meant that she had likely entered an alliance with Caster. While not an uncommon tactic, it was not something Rider was enjoying being used against her. Still, what worried her more besides Avenger was the fact that where she went, her Master…

A sudden rumbling snapped Rider out of her introspection before she immediately moved into action, Leaping away before the ground beneath her feet exploded into dust and debris. From the centre of the explosion, a hulking being covered from head to toe in yellow of some sort appeared. It's arms and torso were huge compared to the rest of its body, but the arms looked like they had jackhammers built into them. The head looked like a Greek helmet without the ornaments with only a pair of armadillo-like ears decorating it. The face was hidden in blackness with one two beady eyes. The legs were smaller, but still stocky with sharp nails and a tail sticking out from the waist. The most giving sign of all was the hourglass-like marking in the centre of its chest.

"Man she's quick," Armodrillo grunted as he pulled himself out of the hole.

"You were expecting something less?" asked Avenger.

Rider landed on one of the larger decorative rocks and readied herself. It seemed that the mysterious Master of Avenger had adopted yet another new form, this one with earth-related capabilities. With the terrain of the shrine like it was, choosing such a form was a rather wise decision. Rider would have to stay on rooftops or trees to fight where Avenger could follow while the shape-shifter would attack should she land on the solid ground again.

Fortunately, she was not alone in this assault…

"Okay," Armodrillo frowned, smacking his jackhammer fists together. "Let's do this!"

Avenger and Armodrillo both charged at Rider with the intent of taking her down. Being faster, Avenger reached her first and came in swinging with her sword. Rider's natural speed and agility certainly made up for the difference in strength as she dipped and curved around the blows, or merely blocked them with her chains and daggers. Armodrillo came into the fight heavily, aiming with a downward punch which Rider easily dodged, but when the fist hit the ground, the earth actually shook from the blow of the impact. Landing on the ground again, Rider found her footing compromised by the vibrations lingering from the impact.

'_I see,_' Rider frowned in thought. '_Avenger has the greater chance of striking me, but on her own the chances are still low. By compromising my footing with those earthquakes through her Master, the chances of striking me increase._' It seemed that despite the bulk of the yellow creature, it was proving quite the asset in this fight.

Avenger once again rushed at Rider and the two began their fight anew, with the more agile Servant dodging the Avenger's sword as sharp steel sliced through the air, gleaming under the light of the moon. Rider then caught the sword with her chain, wrapping her weapon around it and then tugged to relieve Avenger of her weapon while kicking into her armoured gut. Avenger grunted as her weapon was forced from her hands. Suddenly, the ground behind Rider exploded and she turned only to be struck by a massive, metal fist as Armodrillo hit her, ambushing her from the ground. Avenger's sword went flying and Ben's Servant caught her blade.

Rider flipped over Avenger and tugged at her chains, slashing wide so to keep the pair away while she regrouped. Armodrillo and Avenger backed away from the wide area of Rider's daggers before the pseudo-Talpaedan went for yet another charge. As he dashed closer to Rider for an attack those, there was a sudden sound of cutting air. It was very faint, but for a species like Armodrillo who lived underground and thus needed the sharper senses it was enough. Armodrillo brought himself to a halt, but not soon enough for a dagger to fly out of the forests and hit the armour of his helmet, striking a hair's width from Armodrillo's eye.

"Woah!" the alien cried as he stumbled back, covering his eye out of sheer reflex.

"Master!" Avenger cried, running to cover her Master, despite his larger bulk.

"There's someone up-" Armodrillo began, pointing at the forest only to be interrupted when something black came flying out of the woods and was silhouetted by the moon. "There?"

The figure was an incredibly skinny, yet powerfully muscled person whose limbs were rather gangly save for the club-like arm wrapped in bandages. He only wore a raggedy black loincloth and a bone white skull mask over his face. He seemed to hang in the air like a spirit of death, a grim reaper. It was majestic in its own terrifying way. However, the moment quickly ended when the black-clad man came down from his flight, crashing heavily into Armodrillo while using his club arm as a blunt spear point to knock the alien off of his feet and onto his back.

"Oof!"Armodrillo grunted, somewhat stunned. Blinking, he looked up to see the black-skinned man straddling him while holding a dagger above him. The assassin didn't bother with banter or mocking insults and instead lunged for the kill, aiming to plant his dagger into Armodrillo's neck.

CLANG!

Armodrillo managed to survive the attack not by trying to avoid the attack, but lunging to sit up which had the dagger strike his armoured head instead. The man leaned back in an appearance to get some space, but he instead twisted on the spot for a horizontal stab. Armodrillo reacted quickly and punched the ground with one of his jackhammer fists, causing another minor earthquake. It served to disrupt the would-be killer but not enough to get away unscathed as the cold metal cut into a space near his collarbone rather than his neck.

"AUGH!" the pseudo-Talpaedan cried out. The alien was no stranger to pain, but he wasn't used to actually being stabbed by anything. However, it proved to be an incredible motivator as he slugged the skull-faced man across the face and sent him skidding across the dirt. Unfortunately, the dagger was left where it was inserted.

"Master!" Avenger cried, running over to the alien. "Master, are you okay?"

"Just help me get it out!" Armodrillo groaned. "I can't reach it with these hands!"

Avenger was quick to obey as she grabbed the dagger protruding from the collarbone, thankfully not too deep, and give it a good yank. "Ow!" The blade was free, releasing a dark fluid which was assumedly Armodrillo's blood. Still, it looked like a slight wound compared to how bad it could have been should the man in black have gotten his proper footing and his target right.

"Thanks," Armodrillo grunted. "Now let's take these guys down before they get any more bright ideas."

"Master…" Avenger frowned, her protective instincts beginning to come up.

On the other end, Rider and True Assassin were getting their wits back, or in Hassan-I-Sabbah's case, the stars out of his head. The violet-haired woman was all for a tactical retreat since her target was probably long gone thanks to the efforts of Avenger and her Master. True Assassin on the other hand wasn't about to leave when he had his target in sight. His pride in his title and Class wouldn't allow it, not during these circumstances. Rider had been ordered to stay out of his affairs, and she was going to be taking advantage of that.

"Do what you want, but I'm leaving," she muttered.

"I'm not leaving without that boy's head!" True Assassin hissed before he got back to his feet. "And if you don't want the idiot to hurt your Master, you'll help me and bring him back some good news!"

Rider paused as she clenched her teeth in outrage. True Assassin had struck a low blow but his words still rang truth. If she returned with bad news then her true Master would suffer for her failure. Rider simply could not allow that. Still, could she win against these odds?

"Time for a change," said Armodrillo as he placed his hand on the Ultimatrix icon and his entire body was bathed in green light before he called out his new name and new form, "**AmpFibian**!"

The new alien was composed entirely of a gelatinous blue substance. The torso looked like several layers of the substance all piled on top of one another with the bulge at the top acting as the head with a pair of green eyes. Under the folds of the torso came two pairs of plain tentacle-like arms with two more tentacles taking the place of legs. In the centre of the chest was the ever familiar hourglass icon which defined his transformations.

"Now, who wants some?" the pseudo-Amperi taunted, the grin quite noticeable in his voice despite not having a mouth.

Rider and True Assassin took the challenge and made their charge, moving at impossible speeds. Avenger and AmpFibian took up the retaliation as they picked their targets. Avenger went for Rider while AmpFibian flew at True Assassin. Rider unleashed her chains once more against Avenger's sword, making cascades of sparks and sounds of steel scraping against steel. Rider didn't just let the power struggle stand though, flicking her wrists she wrapped her chains around the sword before yanking it towards her, bringing Avenger with it. The sudden yank took the silver knight off of her feet and through the air before Rider twirled and used her momentum for a powerful kick that crashed heavily into Avenger's frame, making the armour buckle. The blonde knight was hurtled back from the blow, nearly hitting one of the decorative rocks.

True Assassin and AmpFibian had taken the fight to the rooftop of the shrine. The Hashashin leader was leaping and bouncing in ways that would have made contortionists and acrobats envious. Despite only having one usable arm with the other being little more than dead weight, True Assassin was just as skilled as his legend implied. Brandishing another dagger, he swiped and cut at the jellyfish-like alien. AmpFibian though wasn't making it easy. He ducked and swerved when the attacks got close, but when it came to retaliation he would shoot out actual bolts of electricity that would fry a roof tile or two when they would miss thanks to True Assassin's reflexes. However, far from enjoying the heat of battle, True Assassin was getting frustrated.

"Just die!" the black-skinned man hissed as he swung his bandaged arm at the pseudo-Amperi. On reflex, AmpFibian backed away to avoid being hit but he didn't notice that True Assassin had crouched for a leap and was thus unprepared for the sudden charge at speeds which excelled human standards. Dagger in hand, True Assassin buried the metal deep into his opponent's chest, letting it sink into the gelatinous fluid that made up its body. At first, he felt satisfaction for finally making his kill, but then AmpFibian began to move…

"Kind of hard to land a hit when you're intangible!" the alien snickered before he unleashed a powerful burst of electricity…

…and True Assassin went up like the Fourth of July.

Avenger smirked as she could sense that her Master was dealing with his opponent well enough without her aid. "Aren't you worried for your Master?" Rider inquired.

"It would be insulting of me to worry for him," said Avenger. "It would as if I had little faith in his skills."

"Such faith," Rider whispered. "How touching."

Avenger rushed forward, aiming for a finishing blow as her blade cut right through the air. Rider deftly dodged to the side and twisted her body around to elbow Avenger in the back of the head.

True Assassin moaned as he lay on his front, his body smoking from the electrocution caused by AmpFibian. The pseudo-Amperi stood, or at least floated, at the ready, waiting for True Assassin to make his move. AmpFibian, however, wondered which Servant this was. He had already seen Saber, Archer, Caster, Lancer, Berserker, Rider, and Assassin. He likewise was the Master of Avenger. There was no possible way this black-skinned killer wasn't a Servant as well. No human could fight he did without some kind of technology or biologic enhancements helping him out.

"Just who are you?"

"I am…the true Servant Assassin," the skull-faced man gagged as he began to recover from the massive electric shock. "The one at the stairs, is a fake summoned by that witch Caster. He's just some nameless samurai, while I am a true Heroic Spirit hand-picked for the Class Assassin," a particularly venomous glare was laid on AmpFibian as he drew another dagger. "And you are my new target!"

Before he could attack though, the air became alive with powerful white light…

* * *

**Miyama-Ryuudou Shrine Stairs**

Shirou was pretty sure he had never run harder before in his life, not even when he was trying to get away from Lancer that night he summoned Saber. When he woke up at his house feeling that Saber was in danger, he ran to check her room only to find her missing. He guessed in a heartbeat that she had gone to the Ryuudou Shrine since it was the only place that any of them knew without a doubt that a Servant was hiding. Saber had been pushing to try and attack them but now it seemed like she got tired of waiting for everyone to agree to it and had gone on by herself.

So he rode his bicycle like a madman before reaching the Ryuudou shrine before dashing without hesitation to the stairs leading up to the building. Part of him was quite eager to strangle Saber for this stunt, but his inherent goodness and extreme worry for Saber won out and he just wanted to get to her before something happened to her. She was still somewhat wounded during their meeting with Berserker and Shirou didn't want anyone to get hurt for his sake. Never again.

Dashing up the stairs, he saw two of the people near the top of the stairs. One was a Japanese man he had never met before, but the other was the very familiar form of Saber. Shirou immediately wanted to call out to his Servant, but he was suddenly interrupted by the onrush of powerful wind coming from her sword. The sheer force of the wind kept Shirou from approaching any further and was even rattling the tiles of the gate behind the other swordsman. How that man wasn't being blown away from the force was beyond the teenage boy.

'_Is this…Saber's mana?_' Shirou thought to himself in growing fear. '_She still hasn't recovered from Berserker's attack thanks to all of the fighting we've been doing! She's being reckless!_"

"Saber!" Shirou cried, but his voice was being drowned out by the roaring winds.

In the middle of the growing hurricane, the glowing form of a sword could be seen in Saber's hands. Like at the school, it seemed her true weapon was about to be revealed and this time there wasn't going to be any interruptions. Shirou had been curious about what Saber's sword was capable of, but he didn't want her to risk herself like this! He had to stop her!

"SA-!"

"ENOUGH!"

The windstorm immediately died down as Saber's concentration was broken. In front of her, Assassin was standing, not even trying to raise his blade anymore. His eyes were trained solely on Saber, but it was clear he was agitated. He didn't want to stop the duel, but something was making him do just that.

"That's enough Saber," Assassin sighed. "Someone is trying to spy on your sword. If this battle goes on, it will no longer be between the two of us." Another sigh of disappointment sounded off before he turned and headed back for the gate.

"Wait!" Saber cried, running to follow the samurai. "Do you not plan on finishing our duel, Assassin?"

"If you plan on stepping through this gate, then we will finish this duel. That is my only duty unfortunately," Assassin replied, not turning back. Reaching the gate though, he glanced back. "Besides, wasn't it lucky that someone chose this moment to interrupt?"

Saber grimaced, obviously frustrated.

"Someone has even come to receive you," Assassin continued, taking note of Shirou. "It would be better if you left now before that spy decides to target the kid." Turning back, Assassin vanished from sight, astralized.

The disappearance of Assassin broke Shirou's silence, allowing him to run towards his Servant, "Saber! Hey, Saber!"

Saber didn't reply to Shirou's calls. Instead, she seemed to sway slightly before all of her armour began to glow. Before Shirou's stunned eyes, the armour dissolved into light particles that vanished into the night. What remained was Saber in a blue dress with an open front that revealed a white blouse. With the armour and her weapon gone, Saber wilted before she lost consciousness and began to fall backwards.

"Saber!" Shirou gasped out.

* * *

**Miyama—Ryuudou Shrine**

The blast of energized wind had distracted all four of the fighters on the temple grounds. However, Rider and True Assassin both knew that something big was happening and that they should not stick around for it. Rider immediately leaped away and into the forests in a heartbeat. True Assassin lingered a moment longer, but reluctantly did the same. He was professional enough to realize when he was in a loosing battle.

As quickly as the light show began, it ended which left Avenger and AmpFibian alone on the Ryuudou Shrine grounds. The Ultimatrix wielder eyed where the wind had come from and hovered back to Avenger before undoing his transformation.

"I think it's obvious that we need to check this out," Ben commented to his Servant.

"Agreed," Avenger nodded as she adjusted her helmet.

Both Master and Servant cautiously approached the gate where the massive windstorm had erupted. It didn't take them long to reach the gate, but as they got closer they heard a boy's voice calling out to Saber. Upon arrival, Ben saw the familiar form of Shirou Emiya holding Saber in a bridal carry with the blonde clearly unconscious. The redhead was trying to rouse her from her slumber, but it was a losing battle.

Avenger gripped her sword slightly, but Ben gripper her shoulder to keep her in place. Instead, he stepped forward and caught Shirou's attention, "Hey, is she okay?"

"Eh?" Shirou gasped, but then looked up at who had spoken. His eyes widened in surprise, not expecting to see the person whom was standing in front of him now.

"T-Tennyson-san?"

* * *

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: **Well, that took a while to complete. Hope you guys enjoy the new chapter though. Caster begins her ploy and True Assassin makes himself known. We also see that Rider has her own reasons for fighting and now Shirou and Ben face off as Masters rather than just a passing meeting. What's going to happen next? Well, you'll just have to be patient.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Ben 10 or Fate/Stay Night. They belong to their respective owners and not me. I am only writing this for fun and I hope despite the hiatus I was on for this fic you all enjoy what is to come. Please be kind and review, but flames will be devoured by Dark Sakura.

Fate/Stay Night: Ultimate Master

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 5: Aftermath

The night was silent and serene at the Ryuudou Temple, but it was not because of the naturally peaceful atmosphere a religious site could produce. The night was silent because just moments ago a battle on two fronts erupted between heroes both new and old. The power thrown around by all sides had scared away all of the local wildlife. It was only because of Caster's spell over the property that the monks and other residents of the temple didn't wake up in the midst of the chaos. Although the chaos and the battle had ended, the air was still tense.

Standing on top of the stairs to the temple was Ben Tennyson and his Servant Avenger. Both had finished battling the Servants Rider and True Assassin, the black-clad man having singled Ben out for the kill but his ability to transform allowed him to survive the attempt and fight back. The battle had only ended when a pillar of light appeared at the gates of the temple, causing Rider and True Assassin to flee. They both arrived at the source of the light only for the Master to realize he recognized both people on the stairs.

Below them on a portion of the stairs was Shirou Emiya and his own Servant Saber. Saber had come to the temple to attack the Servant that was supposedly fortified there. Once she arrived, she met the samurai-like Servant Assassin naming himself Sasaki Kojirou. The two of them did battle to the point where Saber was preparing to unleash her Noble Phantasm, but Shirou's interruption prevented the power from being unleashed, even if the drain from even preparing to use the attack mixed with her injuries from previous battles left her drained. Assassin retreated, his task of preventing Saber's entrance complete but Saber passed out into Shirou's arms.

"T-Tennyson-san," Shirou swallowed.

"Shirou...Emiya?" Ben blinked in surprise. He knew Shirou was a Master after seeing the teen during the battle in the park against Caster's skeletons. He did feel a measure of relief seeing that Shirou seemed to be the Master of Saber instead of Archer.

Shirou himself wasn't quite sure what to do at the moment. He knew that fighting was out of the question, both due to Saber's weakness and his own lagging abilities when it came to magic. On the other hand, he wanted to believe that Ben Tennyson was the kind of person who you could count on to not stab you in the back. Rin's voice still echoed in his mind, reminding him about how dangerous Ben could be if given half a chance.

The two sides were silent for a moment before Ben's gaze turned down to gaze at Saber, "Is she okay?"

"Uh..." Shirou gulped. He glanced down to the sleeping Saber. "She's just tired. The fights we've been dealing with have been taking a toll on us."

"Tell me about it," Ben nodded, absently rubbing his collarbone where True Assassin had stabbed him. Changing into AmpFibian managed to heal the wound, but the pain of the knife digging into his skin still echoed in Ben's mind. Pushing that dark thought from his mind, Ben turned his focus to the situation at hand. "You guys need help?"

"Master?" asked Avenger. While she could agree with the sentiment of not striking an opponent when they were down and unable to defend themselves, this was a prime opportunity to eliminate Saber. She didn't like the thought at all, but if Ben insisted...

"Relax, we're done fighting tonight," Ben reassured Avenger. "Right now I think we all just want to go home and get some rest. It's been a long night."

"Yeah," Shirou agreed. "Saber isn't really that heavy but..."

"Say no more," Ben nodded. Hopping down the steps, he helped heft Saber to her feet before he and Shirou slung an arm over their shoulders. Ben anticipated some weight, but despite being so powerful he had to admit that Saber really didn't seem to have anything to her. "Woah, she is light." Chuckling, he glanced at Avenger, "Avenger, make sure that True Assassin or Rider don't try to sneak attack us or something."

"Yes Master," Avenger nodded, keeping her sword at the ready.

"True Assassin? Rider?" Shirou blinked, looking over to Ben's face.

"Yeah, a nasty guy who tried to take me out and got pretty close," Ben frowned. "Tall skinny guy with black skin and a white mask over his face that looks like a skull. The odd thing is that his right arm is all wrapped up in black cloth. Seemed to have it out for me too. I don't know about the guy at the gate, but this one is way more what I thought the Servant Assassin would be like."

Shirou frowned at the description, not liking the sounds of it one bit. He assumed that the man at the gate was the last Servant since he had already seen Archer, Lancer, Rider, and Berserker. Since he used a sword instead of magic he thought that the man was Assassin. Hearing there was a True Assassin running around though would make things difficult...and make Tohsaka angrier in the process. His night was shaping up just great.

As they slowly walked down the stairs to the streets, Shirou glanced at the American who was helping him. He had so many questions for Ben, things he wanted to know about the teenager. He wouldn't be shy in admitting that with Ben being an actual hero, Shirou wanted to know how he could become one as well. Recalling all he had learned about Ben from Rin's extensive research and printouts he had decided to go out on a limb.

"Tennyson-san?" asked Shirou.

"Yeah?"

"Just how did you get involved in the Holy Grail War anyway?" the Master of Saber dared to ask. Ben glanced over Saber's head with a raised eyebrow, making Shirou elaborate. "I mean...you were all the way in America and...well magic is kind of a thing that we really want to keep secret."

"Actually, I had no idea the Grail War existed," Ben admitted. "Some of the people I...work with noticed that ten years ago all this 'gas leak' and 'accident' stuff was going on which seemed to end up with the Great Fuyuki Fire. They sent me to try and investigate what was going on when the same incidents started up again and the same excuses were being thrown around like it was common practice. If there's anything I can do in my line of work, it's realize a cover up, especially one as flimsy as this one."

"Oh," Shirou grimaced, both at the memory of that hellish night where he met his father as well as realizing that the cover ups that Rin had once said were so reliable weren't as effective as they seemed to be. "So you came here to find out what was going on?"

"Yeah," Ben nodded before he chuckled. "Funnily enough, I was sent because most of the people who stood out most had kids here or were in the area. I was supposed to interview you, Rin Tohsaka, Shinji and Sakura Matou, and Kirei Kotomine about the incidents. Instead I get jumped by Lancer and somehow summoned Avenger. Guess I got my answers."

Shirou blinked in shock at the statement. Ben had actually come to Fuyuki to actually try and get answers about the Fuyuki Fire out of himself and his classmates. "Wh-why us?"

"Because Kiritsugu Emiya, his wife Irisviel von Einzbern, Kirei Kotomine, Kariya Matou, and Tokiomi Tohsaka were involved in the previous events which makes me think it was part of a previous Grail War," Ben explained.

"Wh-what?-!" Shirou gaped. "T-Tou-san was involved in this? Wait...Irisviel von Einzbern?"

"Yeah. I think she must be a relation to Illya," Ben nodded. "She died during the last buildup to the fire. She was supposed to be married to Kiritsugu. Did he ever mention her?"

"Once, I think," Shirou nodded, reeling from the thought that more than a magus his father had been involved in the Grail War. The same Grail War that created the hellish fire that orphaned him. "He..he mentioned the name but when I asked he said it was nothing and didn't mention it since. I was curious at first, but if she died in the last Grail War...then he probably didn't want to talk about it."

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "When I showed up I just thought that I was going to deal with some alien that was hibernating under the city or something. Instead I get something way more complicated than that." He sighed, "Magic. I was never good at dealing with magic."

"Heh, me neither," Shirou chuckled.

The two boys gently carried the unconscious Saber down to the bottom of the stairs. Both of them took a moment to set her on a nearby bench so they could get the stiffness out of their limbs.

"You need help getting her someplace safe?" asked Ben.

"Well...I can carry her home myself," Shirou admitted.

"You're unsure if you should allow my Master and I to see where you are residing," Avenger commented.

"Well, there is Tohsaka..." Shirou murmured. She was going to tear into him already because of how friendly he was being with Ben. Letting him see where they lived would likely make her break out in one of those scary smiles she would give off now and then when she thought he was doing something stupid. The girl's smiles could be rather expressive and downright terrifying when she wanted them to be.

"I guess I can understand that," said Ben. "Technically, we are supposed to be enemies in this Holy Grail War."

"She's just worried that, well, since you're being friendly with the other Masters we're enemies with, that you're planning on taking us all out as a group," said Shirou. "You could do it too with that huge form and all..."

"Not my style," said Ben, shaking his head. "I don't even want the Holy Grail. I just want to make sure that it doesn't end up in the hands of some kind of maniac who would use it to enslave the world or something. I've seen plenty of guys like that back home and I don't want to see how many of those types exist in Japan."

"So then why were you-?" asked Shirou, gesturing to the temple.

"Caster there wanted to negotiate a truce or something," Ben replied, "The only Servants I'm going after are the ones who are a threat to everyone. Rider, True Assassin, and Lancer are all on the list. Archer probably won't just want to call a draw either."

'_Neither will Saber,_' Shirou lamented mentally, looking at his Servant and remembering how determined she was to fight the Grail War. "And what about Berserker's Master? Illya? Tohsaka's freaking out about you working together."

"Illya's family is forcing her to compete. They don't even want a wish, they just want to be able to claim that they have the Grail," Ben shrugged. "I...I want to keep Illya safe through all this but at the same time I doubt Berserker is going to just be a good little dog with that Mad Enhancement still active on him. I just don't get why her family would send a little girl to fight in this."

"I know the feeling," said Shirou. He and Tohsaka were just allies until the other Masters were taken out of the War. Then, it'd just be them and she wasn't the type to want to give up on the Holy Grail without a fight. Her family had a huge stake in the fight, apparently being one of the three families responsible for starting the ritual in the first place.

"Look, how about I just drop you off someplace nearby?" Ben suggested. "Carrying Saber back is going to be tiring enough."

"Sure," Shirou nodded. He knew already a few spots Ben could drop him off and still leave enough mystery to keep anyone from finding out where he and Rin were staying. In all honesty he wanted to trust Ben and people's faith in him as a hero. Call him naive, but Shirou wasn't ready to be as cynical about everyone around him like Rin and Archer were.

"Great," Ben grinned. He activated the Ultimatrix before slamming down on the projected hologram. Shirou shielded his eyes before looking at Ben again. In the American's place was a large quadraped creature covered in orange fur with a large mouth filled with teeth and black lips. It didn't have any eyes and no visible nostrils and what looked sort of like gills or frills of some kind along the neck. The creature gave off a howl before turning to Shirou. After a moment of shock, Shirou recognized the image of the creature as Wildmutt, one of Ben's oldest forms if Tohsaka's research was right.

"U-uh..." Shirou gaped. Seeing Ben had turn into a large, orange-furred canine creature with no eyes and big teeth still stunned ever after witnessing his transformations before. Were his days ever going to return to normal?

After a few gestures from Wildmutt, Shirou managed to haul himself and Saber onto his back. Wildmutt looked to Avenger but the eighth Servant had decided to simply follow on her own. The Vulpimancer quickly took off running, Shirou pointing out directions as they went. Shirou gripped onto Wildmutt's fur so he wouldn't fall off while making sure Saber didn't fall off either.

Wildmutt wasn't exactly Ben's fastest alien nor the biggest, but he really needed a form that could transport people without getting noticed. In the cover of night, people wouldn't be able to see him all that clearly anyway. The trip was fortunately uneventful, Avenger managing to keep up with Wildmutt with a bit of extra effort and Shirou kept a death grip on Saber to make sure she was safe while she slept. Eventually though, Shirou began to recognize his neighborhood and tugged at Wildmutt's fur, alerting him to pull over or whatever the term was when riding a beast.

Coming to a stop with panting breath, Wildmutt leaned down, allowing Shirou to slade Saber down to Avenger's arms before he followed and took her back. Once both passengers were on the ground, Wildmutt flashed green before returning to his original form of Ben Tennyson.

"Whew," he huffed. "That's my workout for the night."

"Thank you Tennyson-san," Shirou nodded to his fellow Master. "I appreciate the help."

"Hey, I'm a hero. It's what I do," Ben grinned.

"Yeah...heroes do things like that," Shirou agreed, looking almost wistful. Nodding to Ben, he hefted Saber onto his back and began walking down the street. Ben and Avenger watched him go for a few moments before they turned and headed in the direction of the hotel.

"Are you sure it is wise to have been so quick to help?" asked Avenger. "Most would call you foolish for not taking such a prime opportunity to eliminate Saber from the War."

"Avenger, you should know me by now," Ben sighed. "I don't go for tactics like that. In the middle of a fight anything can happen, but I'm not going to slug someone when they're down, especially like how Saber was."

"Then it is good that I didn't suggest it," Avenger smiled behind her helmet. "It is a rather disgraceful tactic in my mind as well."

"Glad we can agree on something then," Ben nodded with a smile of her own. "Now, come on. Let's go. I have an appetite and want to lie down."

* * *

**Emiya Estate**

Shirou sighed as he walked into the entryway to his house, setting Saber on the floor against the wall so to close the door. Glancing to the blonde Servant, he saw how peaceful she looked while she was asleep. If he had to be honest with himself, it was the first time he had seen her so relaxed since he had met her. She was usually so uptight and serious it made her features look like they were made of stone even if she was pretty.

'_I can't even find it in me to try and scold her right now,_' Shirou sighed internally. Shaking his head, he leaned down to pick her up bridal style...

"My my, such an interesting scene."

"Guh!" Shirou gasped. Looking up, he felt himself pale as he saw Rin smiling down at him, a finger playing with one of her ponytails. "Tohsaka!" Shirou leaped back to his feet. "Th-th-this isn't what it looks like! I was just trying to carry Saber back to my ro-! I mean...you know...uh... you know what I'm talking about!"

"Yes, I know _exactly_ what you're talking about," Rin smirked.

"You don't sound like you do," Shirou frowned, hating that teasing tone in Rin's voice.

"Saber went off to fight by herself and you went to stop her, right?" asked Rin, approaching Saber so to help her up. Seeing Shirou nod, she continued, "I'll take Saber to her room. You go make some tea. Use my set, I put it in the third cupboard. I want to hear what you two saw out there tonight."

Shirou sighed and did what he was told. Walking into his kitchen, he found Rin's tea set where she said it was. Going through the motions, he began to make the tea. He was used to a more traditional set rather than the western set Rin had brought but they were similar enough. After choosing one of the blends that he had on stock, he set in in the pot and began pouring hot water into it just as Rin came back into the living room.

"I'm going to need a moment with you Shirou-kun," Rin spoke.

"Right, in a minute," the redhead nodded before looking up. To his surprise, he could see Saber walking into the room in her civilian attire. "Eh? Saber?"

"She woke up just now. With her body low on prana, she went into a kind of restoring sleep. They generally don't last very long," Rin explained, taking her tea set to the table.

"Shirou, did you carry me all the way here?" Saber asked.

"Well, actually..." Shirou rubbed the back of his head. "I think we should all sit down before I tell you."

* * *

Moments later, a loud scream could be heard from within the Emiya Estate. Several children were woken from their sleep and many of the animals in the neighbourhood began making a fuss.

"_**WHAT!?"**_

* * *

Shirou had just told Rin and Saber that Avenger's Master had helped take him and Saber home. The dark-haired girl was livid. Shirou had just compromised their location.

"Shirou, that was very foolish of you!" Saber scolded her master.

"I didn't show him the whole way here! Heck, he'd be lucky to know which direction to go in the area!" Shirou tried to defend his actions.

"But now he knows where to look you doofus!" Rin snapped. Damn it, she was getting frustrated. First, it was Shirou's naivete and ignorance about the matters of the Holy Grail War. If that wasn't enough, this new shape-shifting Master was a huge threat to them. He was a wild card and a dangerous one at that. Now Shirou had practically painted a dotted line straight to their front door.

"I don't think he's that type of guy," said Shirou. "You've read about him, what he's done. Does that sound like someone who would attack us without warning?"

"Shirou, you are far too trusting," Saber commented before glancing at Rin.

"If he's so devious why didn't he just kill you when you were down?" Shirou retorted. Saber's mouth snapped shut. "Why would he go out of his way to rescue so many people in America? Why fight so many obvious bad guys? Why bother if he didn't see it as some kind of moral duty?"

Saber didn't have a reply, she having seen the evidence of Ben's moral fiber herself both in the documents Rin collected as well as seeing some examples it herself. How he grew outraged when Archer admonished him for not risking civilians to claim victory was a particularly vivid memory. Still, Rin's pragmatic side stood up for the challenge, "Shirou, people show their ugly sides when a good enough prize is on the line."

"He doesn't even want the Grail. He just wants to make sure no one bad gets it and ends up becoming a threat to innocent people," Shirou retorted, crossing his arms. "The only reason he's in Fuyuki in the first place is because he was looking for us."

Rin blinked, "What?"

Sighing, Shirou decided to lay all his cards on the table. Maybe if he could maybe bridge the gap between Saber, Rin, and Ben there could be an alliance against the likes of Lancer and Rider. "Ben was sent here to Japan by a group he works with to interview you, me, Shinji, Sakura, and Kotomine about events that we may have heard about ten years ago."

"Ten years ago?" Saber frowned.

"Why back then? The only thing that happened back then was..." Rin trailed off as her eyes began to widen. "The Fourth Grail War..."

"The organization Ben works with were able to tell that all of the excuses of gas leaks or whatever were just a cover up which ended in the Great Fuyuki Fire," Shirou explained himself. "When the same excuses were being brought up to cover for Lancer's killings and whatever other Servants are doing they probably guessed that someone was covering up the truth. They sent Ben to ask us what we might have known since our parents were in the thick of it all. Only he got the real answer when he got Avenger."

Rin and Saber's eyes widened when Shirou made his statement. It was obviously shocking to them to hear that an organization had suspicions about what was going on, but the sinking sensation in his gut told Shirou that it wouldn't come as calming news. Once again, he started feeling like he had just done something stupid which was going to get Tohsaka pissed off at him again.

"Oh man," Rin frowned. "This is not good. This is not good at all. Shirou, we can't let an outside organization find out about the Grail Wars! Do you know what the Magus Association would do if it became common knowledge to anyone mundane that magic was real? That a wish-granting device existed?"

Shirou nodded grimly. Kiritsugu had half-assed his magical education, but he made sure that Shirou understood the value of secrecy. If word got out that magic existed, the Magus Association would begin taking steps to ensure that the secret was kept. They weren't exactly humane in trying to keep it either. Shirou had been told stories by his father about how the Association had wiped out entire towns and a small city or two just to make sure that magic remained a secret.

"Then we can't let Tennyson make his report!" Rin frowned. "We have to take him and Avenger down! If he does, the Association would wipe Fuyuki off the map and likely start a war with Tennyson's group. If he's any indication, it won't be one that will be won easily."

"Considering he can turn into aliens, I don't think he's going to tell the world Tohsaka," Shirou argued. "If anything, his group may already know about magic if some of the enemies he fought means anything. Knowing about the Holy Grail won't be anything new. Everyone in the Magus Association knows about it don't they?"

"True," Rin sighed, massaging her temple. While she didn't entirely buy into the 'alien' aspect of Ben's transformations there was no denying that he knew about magic and likely so did anyone he worked with. Hex and Charmcaster certainly blew that secret to them a long time ago. "But we can't take any chances with this!"

"As important as this is, you are both missing the core issue of it all," Saber spoke up, her voice like a knife and cutting through the tension. "Can he be trusted?"

"To be honest, I think he wants to end this whole thing without taking lives," said Shirou, heaving a sigh. "It's why he spared us before and convinced Illya not to kill us."

"Then if he learns the seriousness of the situation we may be able to convince him on the value of secrecy," Saber nodded.

"Maybe," said Shirou. Still, he had his doubts. If he weren't in the middle of the Grail War himself, Shirou knew that if he discovered what was going on he'd start fighting to try and stop it before innocent people got killed. No doubt Ben would do the same.

* * *

**Shinto - Ben's Suite**

Back in their hotel room, Ben and Avenger were having a meal together. Well, more like a working dinner. Despite being tired and sore, Ben's mind was working on the events that had occurred during the night from his meeting with Caster, fighting Rider and True Assassin, to seeing Shirou as the Master of Saber. So absently munching on some take-out, he read through the book which kept track of the Servants so far.

"Assassin," Ben read, looking over the entry on the blue-haired swordsman protecting the temple gates. Amazingly, his entry was actually complete compared to the other Servants. By giving out his real name, Assassin apparently had unlocked all of the data in the book concerning him. "Master: Caster. Strength: C, Endurance: E, Agility: A+, Mana: E, Luck: A, Noble Phantasm: ?" Ben frowned, not just at the statistics as strange as they were, but also how there didn't seem to be an entry into how powerful his Noble Phantasm was. "His Class Skill is Presence Concealment: D."

"The Assassin's ability to hide himself from the senses of others," Avenger nodded, absently eating her own food while she discussed the topics of the night. "When it is activated, no one would be able of detecting him until he decided to drop it. I am surprised to hear that it is so low though. Perhaps it is because this Assassin is a swordsman rather than silent killer?"

"Maybe," Ben shrugged. He was hardly an expert on things in the Holy Grail War. Looking back o the pages, he looked to Assassin's personal skills. "Eye of the Mind (Fake): A? What's the difference between the true and fake ones?"

"A true Eye of the Mind comes from hardened battle experience and time," Avenger answered. "A false one is more of a sixth sense and natural talent. Whoever this 'Sasaki Kojirou' is, he must be naturally gifted at battle."

"Okay," Ben nodded. "Next is...Vitrification: B+. Okay, I have no idea what that is supposed to be."

"It's a state of mind, specifically one of serenity," Avenger answered. "To be specific, it allows warriors to clear their minds and rid it of mental interference. To be at such a level, Assassin may be capable of hiding his warrior spirit and be essentially invisible to those who are sensitive to aggression and bloodlust." The knight then turned thoughtful. "Perhaps it could allow him to compensate for such a low Presence Concealment, allowing him to function as Assassin should he need it."

"Okay, so maybe that was enough for him to qualify for an Assassin then," Ben nodded, looking to the list. "Last one here in...Knowledge of Respect and Harmony: B? That's even weirder than the Vitrification skill."

"Not if you know what the skill means," Avenger shook her head. "What this skill refers to is the knowledge of how certain aspects of the world work and are able to adapt to them. For example, if a swordsman has this skill in regards to swords and swordsmanship, then he can use his skills over and over on the same opponent without it losing effectiveness. In other words, he is able to use his skills in such a way that the opponent cannot recognize that he is using those skills no matter how many times they have fought."

"So Assassin will be unpredictable in a fight now matter how many times we fight him?" asked Ben.

"Precisely," Avenger nodded. "Likely all but his greatest skills will be unrecognizable until he actually uses them. Speaking of, does he have an Noble Phantasms?"

"Um," Ben looked down the entry. "Well, one but it's weird. It says it's called Tsubame Gaeshi, but it's ranked at N/A. That means Not Applicable, right?"

"That's right," Avenger frowned. "What does it do?"

"Well, it describes it as a sword technique which has three consecutive strikes," Ben tried his best to explain what he was reading. "What makes it so weird though is that it uses something called the...multi-dimensional refraction phenomenon to make it so that the three slashes come all at once. It hits you where you are, where you try to dodge, and where you try to get away, trapping you inside the strike zone and taking you out." Ben scratched his head, not quite understanding the mechanics of how the Noble Phantasm was supposed to work. "I guess...his attack is some kind of enveloping sword strike that hits you no matter which way you try to go."

"Perhaps," Avenger frowned. She knew that something had to be more than simple sword strikes for a technique to be considered a Noble Phantasm...or was it? She would never have thought there was any Noble Phantasm that would be considered N/A though. Was the Tsubame Gaeshi attack a Noble Phantasm or was it's nature just so powerful that it could be attributed as one? "Does his legend have anything to say about the technique?"

"Only that he developed it while trying to hit swallows," Ben shook his head, reading over the legend of Sasaki Kojirou.

It was a surprisingly short story for a legendary swordsman in Ben's opinion. Sasaki Kojirou was born in what was called Eiroku era of Japan. He was apparently very handsome and wielded an unusually long sword in battle. He studied under a swordmaster named Toda Seigen before beating the man's younger brother with a variation of his master's style called Ganryu. After claiming that victory, he traveled around Japan, fighting other swordsmen and developing his skills, one of which was the Tsubame Gaeshi which he used to strike swallows out of the air. His greatest battle came when he battled Miyamoto Musashi (who that was Ben had no idea) for the reputation of his domain. The battle was long and hard, but Kojirou lost in the end when his forehead got crushed by an oar. It was a rather inglorious death for a swordsman in Ben's opinion.

"Something troubles you?" asked Avenger, seeing Ben frown at the story.

"Kind of. It's probably nothing though," Ben sighed, scratching his head.

"It may be important even if it doesn't look like it now," Avenger argued. "The smallest details can sometimes change everything you know."

"Maybe," Ben nodded. "It's just...looking at this guy's stats and his story...they seem like they're all over the place and his story is kind of lacking in detail." After years of having Gwen help him study for tests and projects, he got some of that eye for detail that she used to help her become such an academic success. Looking over Assassin's entry, that eye took notice of how almost all of the Servant's stats were either respectably high or dismally low with only his Strength being close to a middle ground. Also his story was lacking a lot of detail. It only spoke about how he beat his master's brother and then dueled Miyamoto while glossing over events that occurred in between, even where he created the Tsubame Gaeshi technique. For how important it was to keep the identities of the Servants were to staying alive, the amount of information was surprisingly sparse.

Normally Ben would have just shrugged and used what he knew and moved on, but that would have been before he saw Berserker's entry. After Illya had revealed her Servant's identity, the entry on Berserker likewise became complete and even included his story. Unlike Assassin's entry, Hercules' entry as far as his legend went spanned several pages and detailed first where his story began as a baby who killed a serpent before going through his life's major events such as when Hera drove him insane to kill his family and in penitence went to his cousin's kingdom to do the undoable in order to gain forgiveness.

Not only were all of Hercules' twelve tasks listed and what he did to complete them, but the entries were written as if by someone who directly asked Hercules how he did it or had watched him do it. It listed actual mistakes Hercules made such as trying to shoot the Nemean Lion with arrows or constantly cutting the heads of off the Hydra only to have three times as many grow back. It even listed less than heroic aspects of his legend such as when he killed the Amazon Queen Hippolyta for her girdle thinking she had betrayed him after the other Amazons were stirred into a frenzy by Hera. The entries even had smaller details Ben had never read in a history book before such as how two of the tasks didn't count because Hercules asked for help or had been given payment for them. It painted an image of the man Hercules was in life rather than the insane juggernaut that Illya had at her beck and call. Compared to that entry, Sasaki Kojiro's looked rather lacking indeed. For some reason, that bothered Ben but for the life of him, he just couldn't figure out why.

"It's likely that this Sasaki Kojirou is not as well known as Berserker is," Avenger reasoned. "Of course some detail is likely going to be left out. I agree that his statistics are strange in their extremes, but remember that he was summoned by another Servant, not by a proper Master. Perhaps that is the reasons for the unusual rankings."

"Maybe," Ben sighed. "Man I wish I could ask Gwen about this stuff. Too bad she's never seen anything like the Grail War before."

"It is frustrating," Avenger agreed. "Still, perhaps we should turn to this True Assassin who seemed most intent on killing you?"

"Right," Ben agreed, absently rubbing the area where True Assassin had stabbed him as Armodrillo. Turning the pages, he found the entry on the skull-faced man. "Here we go. True Assassin."

* * *

**Miyama - Emiya Residence**

"Wait, wait, wait! You're saying there's a _second_ Assassin running around?"

Despite Rin's displeasure in finding that Shirou had more or less blown his (and by extension her) location to an enemy Master like Ben Tennyson, she was still intent on learning everything she could about the encounter. So Shirou had regaled her on what he had seen about the samurai at the shrine gate, but also concerning what Ben had told him had went on at the shrine itself. Once the redhead got to the part about the True Assassin, Rin began to get even more agitated.

"Yes," Shirou nodded. "Tennyson-san said that he and Avenger had fought against Rider and someone calling themselves True Assassin."

"Did Tennyson say what this man looked like?" asked Saber, turning intent on the details.

"Uh..." Shirou frowned, dredging up the memory. "He said that he was tall, kind of thin, had black skin and a skull mask on his face. Oh, and his right arm was wrapped up in bandages or something."

"Hassan-I-Sabbah," Rin frowned, chewing on her thumbnail. "I had hoped when you mentioned that samurai we got lucky but...oh tonight has just been going _great_ so far."

"Rin-san?" asked Shirou. "Who's Hassan-I-Sabbah?"

"The qunitessential assassins," Rin sighed. There was no point in hiding this information from Shirou since a True Assassin would be a threat in himself. Having Shirou and Saber up to speed on the Servant would help her by extension. "One thing that has never changed about the Grail Wars is that in every one of them, the Assassin role has always been filled by Hassan-I-Sabbah."

"But who was he?" asked Shirou.

"They, Shirou-kun, they," Rin replied. "Out in the middle east during ancient times there started a cult who would train killers in order to pursue their political and religious goals. They as a whole called themselves Hashashin while the leader was known as Hassan-I-Sabbah. The name of their organization is what eventually became the word assassin for us today. Because of that, whoever tries to summon Servant Assassin will always get Hassan-I-Sabbah because the word assassin is like a catalyst, summoning him."

"So the same Servant has been summoned during every Grail War?" asked the redhead. "Wouldn't that mean that the families that started this would always know how to beat them?"

"I wish! I wouldn't be so worried then!" Rin snorted. "The Hashashin existed for decades but the leader was always Hassan-I-Sabbah! No one person could live that long so instead the name became a title which was passed down to each leader. There were _nineteen_ Hassan-I-Sabbahs! Unlike the other Servants who can give away a few clues in meetings, there's no way to tell which of the Hassans this one was until we see him fight or use his Noble Phantasm and by then we'd likely be already dead!"

"Despite their weak strength, Assassins can indeed be deadly foes," Saber nodded. "They will do whatever it takes to make battle conditions favor them and will sink to any depth in order to make victory possible."

"What's worse, all of their Noble Phantasms have the same name according to notes my family left on the Grail Wars," Run scowled. "Zabaniya. It's always the same name so unless you see it in action, there's no way to differentiate it from the others."

"So then if this True Assassin is the actual Servant Assassin, then who is the swordsman at the gate?" asked Shirou, the weight of the situation once again compounding on his shoulders.

"I don't know," Rin shook her head. "Maybe he's some kind of pseudo-Servant or something which was made to fill the role of Assassin for the Servant on the hill so there would be no more enemies. Maybe he was a Master's attempt to summon something besides Hassan-I-Sabbah to catch people off guard. In any case, it obviously didn't work since the real Assassin is here anyway. Lucky us."

Rin rubbed her temples, ignoring her tea for the moment. So many factors were bombarding her at once, making the Grail War more complicated than she had expected it to be. Hearing Rider attacked the shrine wasn't a surprise. She guessed that Shinji would have had a motive for telling them about the Servant there. They were a distraction while Rider would go for the kill. Process of elimination made Rin think that the Servant there was Caster. If Caster was used to assist in summoning another Servant, that might explain why a samurai was supposedly summoned as Assassin. A Servant used in summoning another Servant hadn't been done before as far as she knew, but it had to have some kind of wonky effects considering all the safeguards that the Grail Wars had going for them. Then the news of the True Assassin showing up, if Tennyson was telling the truth, was likely some of the worst news of all.

'_Dammit, when did this get so complicated?_' she frowned internally.

* * *

**Shinto - Ben's Suite**

"The _True_ Assassin," Ben read the entry. "Almost nothing on this guy. Strength: B, Endurance: C, Agility: A, Luck: E." Now this was what Ben was expecting from an Assassin-Class Servant. "Says his Presence Concealment is at A+ and the only personal skill that it says is Projectile (Daggers) at B-Rank."

Avenger rubbed her chin, "Indeed. He revealed very little about himself beyond some physical abilities and only one skill he has so far. I'm a little surprised that he tried to kill you so blatantly considering his Class, but likely he assumed in your Armodrillo form you would have been an easy target."

"Lucky Armodrillo is faster than he looks," Ben nodded. "And that I changed into AmpFibian to make his daggers useless."

"We were lucky tonight," Avenger agreed. "He likely will not make that mistake again though. He is a legendary assassin for a reason. We must be on guard at all times now that we know the True Assassin is operating."

"No kidding," Ben grimaced. "I don't want a guy like that to get anywhere near me unless I can see him coming."

"That may be difficult with his ability to conceal his presence. Do you have any form that can counter Assassin?" Avenger asked.

"I'm gonna have to check my playlist," said Ben as he tapped his Ultimatrix. An Anodite would be good. They could detect Mana and Servants were filled to the brim with Mana. It was just too bad he never unlocked that particular species or anything similar. He'd have to look over his other aliens to see what might work. "Maybe Snare-oh, or ChamAlien. Maybe even Ghostfreak if I have to. How can you fight a guy that you can't see coming unless he wants you to?"

Ben had fought opponents who could make themselves seem invisible and hide their presences in order to win. It wasn't the fact that True Assassin could hide himself that was the problem. The problem was that with his Presence Concealment at such a high rank, he could stay hidden until he chose to reveal himself and no Servant would be able to tell he was there until it was too late. Ben had only gotten off with a stab wound because True Assassin underestimated Armodrillo's reflexes and his ability to dodge. It was a mistake Ben doubted a legendary assassin would make twice. Usually such opponents Ben fought in the past had some kind of tell that would give them away if one knew about it, but it seemed that True Assassin had no such giveaway in his stealth technique.

Avenger was actually interested to see more of what her Master was capable of. The device on his arm allowed him to assume forms of superhuman beings he called 'aliens' and there were so many of them. True, he had told her that some of them shared similar powers, but they also had something extra. She had been meaning to suggest an idea to her summoner that day, but the events with Caster stalled her plan. Now it seemed she had the perfect opportunity for it.

"Ben, I think it's time we started training with your aliens," Avenger suggested.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I know I can't stop you from fighting, but perhaps we can train ourselves to work together better. So, we should try training with your alien forms to see which ones work the best alongside me," the female knight explained. "Until now I've trusted that you knew enough about your battles to select an appropriate form. However, Archer and now this True Assassin have gotten dangerously close to incapacitating you if not outright killing you. If we are going to be better prepared, our first step is that we must learn how the other fights so we can become a more cohesive unit."

"Well…" Ben scratched his head, setting the Servant Books aside. The idea had appeal. Since he and Avenger were both in the Holy Grail War they were going to have to trust each other in order to survive, much less take own their opponents. "That's...a pretty good idea I guess. Neither of us are in this alone are we?"

"Indeed we are not," Avenger nodded with a pleased smile. "We shall start bright and early then were we can have some privacy to work," she then stood up. "I expect you to be at your best. I will not accept anything less from you."

"Yes ma'am," Ben saluted. As he was grinning though, a portion of his mind which sounded a lot like Kevin spoke up again.

'_You're going to get your butt handed to you Tennyson._'

* * *

**Matou Manor**

Zouken was not one to give into fits of emotion. No, he had long since mastered the art of channeling emotions such as disappointment and rage into more constructive pursuits. Losing one's temper just made them vulnerable and was a waste of time and energy that could otherwise be used to get around what caused those emotions in the first place. It was a trait that out of all of his relatives, only Kariya seemed to have obtained but in the end even that had been devoured by the Crest Worms used to empower him for the Fourth Grail War. Zouken's other son Byakuya and by extension his son Shinji never had an inkling of that valuable trait in the first place. One drowned himself in alcohol simply because he couldn't get over his failures while the other floundered in false pride and simply pretended those failures didn't happen.

Stupidity in action.

Of course, that night Zouken's talent for dealing with setbacks was being exercised yet again. Shinji had finally executed his plot to distract Caster by sending another Servant to the Ryuudou Temple and then having Rider slip in and strike her down. It only served to prove to Zouken how right he was in keeping that little wart Shinji away from using magecraft himself. He'd only end up killing himself in some stupid stunt intended to show off if he could perform even a portion of proper magecraft. The fool actually thought Rider could barge through Caster's barrier even with the Magic Resistance her Class offered her? Against a modern mage he would have been right, but Shinji in all his idiocy forgot Caster was from an age long past where magecraft was much different and in this particular case, much more powerful. Rider had gotten inside, but it was obvious she hadn't done so unaffected.

Still, it did provide an opportunity not only to see Saber and the false Assassin in action. It also gave True Assassin the chance to strike down the American. Caster had attempted some sort of alliance with the boy and from what Zouken could tell they were at least willing to work together for the time being. The boy was wide open with him and Avenger distracted by their fight with Rider, making it a perfect opportunity for True Assassin to strike.

For the sake of the Matou's victory, the American Master and his Servant had to be taken out of the game. They were wildcards, unknown variables that needed to be eliminated. Fighting against the 7 pairs of Servants and Masters was difficult enough but he was prepared for them. This pair, made up of a shape-shifting Master and his unknown Servant made things...difficult and to set his plans back on track Zouken intended to eliminate him. With True Assassin presented with such an opening it should have been easy for him to simply kill the boy and be done with it.

But that did not come to pass.

The boy's reflexes in his beastly yellow form were quicker than expected. True Assassin did not take him seriously and it cost him the first strike, allowing the American to be ready for him. The Servant of Silent Death attempted to strike the boy down a second time and managed to wound him, but could not finish the deed before Avenger got involved. The boy then transformed into an electrified jellyfish monster which could absorb True Assassin's strikes before electrocuting him. It was hardly a deathblow, but being shocked by several thousands volts of electricity would bring just about anything to their knees if even for a short time. By then, Saber had begun getting serious and Rider knew that there was no chance for victory. Alone, exposed, and outnumbered True Assassin likewise had to retreat.

And so Zouken sat in the basement of his home, his familiars squirming about in the rage he wouldn't allow his features to reveal. True Assassin kneeled nearby, silent and waiting for his next orders. He knew he failed and was likewise silently seething, his killing intent causing a few of the worms to squeal and flee, leaving the stone floor he sat on clear of the vile pests. One particularly slow worm choked on the aura and died. It was quickly devoured but its brethren for its prana and materials. Nothing went to waste with the Matou head's magic. Like Zouken though, he didn't let his body or his features show the rage his aura was projecting.

"This will not happen again, do you understand?" Zouken spoke, his voice silencing the worms. "I will not allow some foreign brat to make a fool of my Servant and by extension me!"

"I understand," True Assassin nodded.

"Good. Now leave my sight," Zouken barked, allowing True Assassin to slip into the darkness once more. Inhaling deeply, he stood up and headed for the stairs to the house. His wart of a grandson was due back soon, having gone to the temple area so he could watch his 'triumph' over Caster. Rider had seen fit to leave the boy behind for his stupidity He'd be in one of his spoiled fits once he got back, but Zouken would be having long overdue _words_ with him over his incompetence and inability to use Rider's abilities properly.

Zouken had invested far too much and waited far too long to allow anyone to risk his chance at the Grail.

* * *

**Miyama -Streets**

Bazett walked the streets of Miyama with her hands in her pockets. To the casual observer, she looked like a woman who was enjoying a nighttime stroll. An odd thing considering the events happening during the night as well as the fact she was wearing a suit in the residential district. She may have been considered suspicious, but with everyone else staying in their homes there was no one around to take notice of the red-haired Irish Woman.

Bazett had spent the day laying low and trying to take stock of her situation. She had been feeling disoriented for hours and trying to get the passage of time straight in her head was proving to be difficult. It wasn't everyday that one returned from the brink of death and found out that over a week had passed. How she avoided dying of blood loss even with that preservation rune on her former stump was beyond her.

Thinking of her arm, Bezett lifted a hand from her pocket and ran her fingers across the newly restored limb. It felt the same, even down to her flesh and blood. If Paradox were to be believed, he had somehow nudged time in a way that her body reverted to its previous condition before she was attacked. How someone could control time in any way Bazette couldn't even begin to comprehend. The Mage's Association had been working at it for years and Bazett understood Time Travel was ranked as being part of the True Magics. Time manipulation was something which drifted into the areas of the Second and Fifth True magics, but never had she heard of anyone who could directly manipulate time as an act in itself rather than a process of another magic. If anyone had figured out how to do it, the Magus Association would have been in an uproar and sending Enforcers like her to try and collect the user. She had never heard about anyone like Paradox before in her life.

Bazett shook her head, clearing thoughts of Paradox out. She had enough problems to deal with in the real world as it was without driving herself crazy over her thoughts on how someone could control the aspects of time. She had to stake out her own hotel room for the better part of a day just to make sure that Kotomine hadn't decided to cover all his bases and make sure that she was dead and worm food.

Bazett knew that it had been Kotomine who had attacked her and cut off her arm. She could barely bring herself to think the man's name considering the betrayal she suffered at his hands. He was the one who had invited her to take part in the Holy Grail War. It had been him who suggested a 'safe' spot to summon her Servant. She'd have to be absolutely stupid to think that anyone but Kotomine had been the one to attack her and leave her for dead. He had been the one who convinced her try for a Servant, but all of it had been a plan to use her own Servant for himself. Now her hero was being used by that monster for whatever reason and was being forced to kill innocent people for prana.

After making sure that Kotomine hadn't done something to her hotel room, Bazett returned to it much to the shock of the staff who thought she had ditched the bill and were considering putting her belongings into storage. She was pretty sure some of them thought she was dead considering the killings that were appearing on the news. If only they knew that they weren't too far off in that guess. So after dealing with the staff to extend her stay, she returned to her belongings. She collected her Fragarach and reapplied the strengthening runes to her gloves and shoes in case she was forced into a fight. Some may have called it paranoid, but in the midst in the Holy Grail War and after what had happened to her, she had a right to some paranoia. It would probably help save her life if anyone tried anything funny.

After restocking, she hit the town and tried to find any trace of Lancer so she could try to get her sole mastery of her Servant back. That lead to the residential section of the city where many of the murders had taken place. Kotomine was probably forcing Lancer to patrol around there to keep himself charged in case of a fight. With any luck, she'd find her hero and get him back and then they'd go put Kotomine in the ground, moderator of the war be damned! Taking Gae Bolg to his black heart would be the perfect way to pay him back stabbing her from behind and cutting off her arm!

One stray thought did come to mind though, something Paradox had told her. He had said that there were two Masters who were going to play a big roles in events to come. Since the man was a time traveller, she decided to take his word for it. The Master of Saber was supposes to be one of those two, but in all of her research into the Grail War she had never heard of a Servant called Avenger. On one hand that worried her since she had put considerable hours into learning everything she could about the Holy Grail War and not once had she ever heard of such a Servant Class. On the other hand, information on the Grail Wars was considerably scarce since the founding families the Makiri, Einzbern, and Tohsaka didn't want the secrets of how to construct such a ritual to be made public knowledge. No magi worth their salt would allow their greatest secrets to be unveiled and used by anyone who wanted to try their hand at it.

Her explorations did bear some fruit. There was some kind of battle at a nearby temple. The great blast of light was enough of a clue to tell that it was likely related to ran to the source, hoping that it would be her chance to find Lancer and free him from Kotomine's control. All she found was a discarded bike at the bottom of the stairs and a lingering feeling of a bounded field hanging heavily in the air. It was enough to make Bazett believe she had stumbled onto the base of another Master or possibly even Caster. With no Servant of her own and just her Fragarach, Bazett decided to just keep moving. Still, it was some progress in any case. If she knew where the other Servants and Masters were based, she knew a place where Lancer would eventually show up.

All she had to do was wait and be diligent.

To Be Continued...

**A/N:** Okay, I know this isn't the epic update you were all hoping for but the aftermath had to be explored as well as showing that Bazett is still in the picture. I finally got off my ass and decided to just continue the story along with Fate/Ingens Cor. Ben and Shirou have officially made contact with each other and perhaps this is the beginning of the partnership that Paradox hinted about earlier. of course, not everyone is as enthusiastic about the meeting as Shirou is. Now though, the story is going to progress at long last. It will definitely be a shorter wait before the next chapter.


End file.
